'^^p/Cttu^j:'  '  /P^^t^^T^^i^^t^-^^ 


DuMAiN  :      "  Once  more  I'll  read  the  ode  that  I  have  writ" 

Love's  Larouk's  Lost  Act  IV  Scene  3 


Copyright,    1901 

By 

THE    UNIVERSITY    SOCIETY 


COLLEGE 
LIBRARY 


fK 


LOVE'S   LABOUR'S   LOST.     /^  ^ 
Preface.  /  "^  O  ( 

The  Early  Editions.  The  earliest  edition  of  Love's  La- 
hour's  Lost  appeared  in  1598,  with  the  following  title- 
page  : — "  A  Pleasant  conceited  Comedie  called  Loues  La- 
bors lost.  As  it  was  presented  before  her  Highness  this 
last  Christmas.  Newly  corrected  and  augmented  hy  W. 
Shakespere.  Imprinted  at  London  by  W,  IV.  for  Cuthhert 
Biirby."  (Reproduced  in  photo-lithography  by  W.  Griggs 
with  forewords  by  Dr.  Fumivall,  Shakespeare-Quarto 
Facsimiles,  No.  5.) 

The  Folio  Edition  of  1623 — probably  reprinted  from  the 
Quarto — gives  on  the  whole  a  somewhat  better  text  of  the 
play,  though  in  two  or  three  instances  the  earlier  Quarto 
is  helpful  in  restoring  correct  readings ;  both  editions  are 
marked  by  carelessness ;  some  of  the  errors  are  of  singu- 
lar interest  as  throwing  light  on  Shakespeare's  workman- 
ship. The  title-page  of  the  Quarto  indicates  that  the 
play  as  published  in  1598  represents  a  revised  version  of 
an  earlier  production.  \^arious  attempts  have  been  made 
to  separate  the  earlier  and  later  portions ;  the  text  of  the 
Quarto  and  Folio  gives  us  a  valuable  clue ;  Act  IV.  iii. 
299-304,  and  Act  V.  ii.  827-832  are  obviously  parts  of  the 
first  sketch  of  the  play  printed  by  mistake  ;  had  the  proofs 
of  Quarto  i  been  carefully  read  these  lines  would  most 
certainly  have  been  deleted ;  the  former  passage  represents 
the  rough  draft  of  the  great  speech  in  which  they  occur ; 
the  latter  gave  place  to  Rosaline's  speech  '"  Oft  have  I 
heard  of  you,  my  Lord  Biron  "  (V.  ii.  844-857).  Probably 
a  great  part  of  the  last  Act  has  been  re-written,  especially 
the  close  of  the  play  from  the  entrance  of  Mercade.     Mr. 


Preface  LOVE'S  LABOUR  'S  LOST 

Spedding  as  far  back  as  1839  pointed  out  that  the  ine- 
quaUty  in  the  length  of  the  Acts  gives  us  ^  hint  where  to 
look  for  the  principal  additions  and  alterations ;  in  Act  I. 
Biron's  remonstrance,  and  in  Act  IV.  nearly  the  whole  of 
the  close  and  a  few  lines  at  the  opening  of  the  Act,  may 
probably  be  classed  with  the  passages  already  noted  as  be- 
longing to  Shakespeare's  maturer  work. 

Date  of  Composition.  All  the  recognized  tests  place 
Love's  Labour  's  Lost  among  the  earliest  of  Shakespeare's 
regular  plays :  it  may  certainly  be  regarded  as  among  the 
first  of  his  comedies.  External  evidence  bearing  on  the 
date  is  somewhat  scanty ;  in  addition  to  a  mention  of  the 
play  in  PaUadis  Tamia  in  1598,  we  have  some  lines  by 
Robert  Tofte  in  a  poem  entitled  Alba;  or,  the  Month's 
Mind  of  a  Melancholy  Lover,  published  the  same  year, 
wherein  our  play  is  referred  to  in  words  suggesting  that 
it  was  not  then  a  recent  production : — "  Love's  Labour 
Lost  I  o)ice  did  see."  Similarly  in  a  letter  by  Sir  Walter 
Cope  to  Lord  Cranborne  (1604)  similar  mention  is  made 
of  this  as  "  an  old  play  " : — "  Burbage  is  come  and  says 
there  is  no  new  play  that  the  queen  hath  not  seen,  but  they 
have  revised  an  old  one,  called  Love's  Labour  Lost,  which 
for  wit  and  mirth,  he  says,  will  please  her  exceedingly."* 

All  this,  however,  adds  little  to  the  information  given 
on  the  title-page  of  the  first  Quarto. 

Dr.  Grossart,  in  his  edition  of  Robert  Southwell,  con- 
tends that  certain  lines,  written  about  1594,  apply  to  the 
eyes  of  Christ  the  idea  contained  in  Biron's  speech  in  the 
fifth  Act  :— 

"  O  sacred  eyes !  the  springs  of  living  light, 

The  earthly  heavens  where  angels  joy  to  dwell.    .    .    ." 

There  is  a  valuable  piece  of  confirmatory  evidence  for 

*  Tofte  and  others  call  the  play  Love's  Labour  Lost;  it  is  doubt- 
ful whether  the  correct  title  is  Love's  Labours  Lost,  or  Love's 
Labour's  Lost;  the  apostrophe  is  found  in  the  headline  of 
Quarto  i. 


LOVE'S  LABOUR  *S  LOST  Preface 

the  early  date  of  this  play  and  its  companion  play  "Love's 
Labour  Won''  (whatever  this  may  have  been)  in  The 
Two  Gentlemen  of  Verona,  Act  L  Sc.  i.  29-33. 

"  To  be  in  love,  what  scorn  is  bought  with  groans    .    .    . 
If  happy  won,  perhaps  a  hapless  gain, 
If  lost  why  then  a  grievous  labour's  icon." 

General  Characteristics.  The  metrical  tests  place 
Loi'c's  Labour's  Lost  first  of  the  plays  of  the  first  (or 
rhyming)  period;  its  lyrical  character  is  perhaps  its  most 
noteworthy  feature :  it  contains  in  its  present  state  twice 
as  many  rhymed  lines  as  blank  verse,  and  there  can  be 
little  doubt  that  in  its  original  form  the  proportion  was 
even  greater.  In  addition  to  three  Sonnets  and  a  Song* 
there  is  doggerel  in  abundance,  as  well  as  alternate  rhymes 
and  six-line  stanzas  ;  but  throughout  the  play  the  thought, 
quite  as  much  as  the  metrical  form,  reminds  us  that  Shake- 
speare has  not  yet  divorced  his  poetical  from  his  dramatic 
genius.  "  The  opening  speech  of  the  king  on  the  immor- 
tality of  fame — on  the  triumph  of  fame  over  death — and 
the  nobler  parts  of  Biron,"  Mr.  Pater  justly  observes, 
*'  have  something  of  the  monumental  style  of  Shake- 
speare's Sonnets,  and  are  not  without  their  conceits  of 
thought  and  expression.'' 

Among  other  marks  of  its  early  date  are  the  following : 
— Its  symmetrical  arrangement  of  the  characters ;  its  in- 
troduction of  the  standing  characters  of  the  older  plays 
("  the  pedant,  the  braggart,  the  hedge-priest,  the  fool  and 
the  boy");  its  quibbling,  repartee,  and  word-play;  its 
sketchy  characterisation  (Biron  and  Rosaline  are  rough 
drafts  of  Benedick  and  Beatrice ;  Armado  and  Jaquenetta 
anticipate  Touchstone  and  Audrey)  ;  the  obvious  influence 
of  the  Courtly  dramas  of  John  Lily.  Finally,  no  other 
play  gives  us  such  glimpses  into  Shakespeare's  youth ; 
none  has  such  delightful  reminiscences  of  his  child-life  at 

*  Jaggard  put  two  of  the  Sonnets  and  the  Song  into  The  Pas- 
sionate Pilgrim,  1599;  the  Song  was  also  printed  with  Shake- 
speare's name  attached  'in  England's  Helicon,  1600. 


Preface  LOVE'S  LABOUR  'S  LOST 

Stratford  :  in  more  senses  than  one  Love's  Labour 's  Lost 
is  "  a  portrait  taken  of  him  in  his  boyhood !  " 

The  Plot.  Love's  Labour 's  Lost  has  the  sHghtest  of  all 
Shakespeare's  plots ;  it  may  be  described  as  a  drama  of 
dialogue  and  satire ;  intrigue  plays  practically  no  part  in 
it.  It  would  seem,  indeed,  that  Shakespeare's  first  comedy 
owed  its  main  interest  to  topical  allusions,  no  doubt  readily 
understood  by  his  audience.  This  topical  character  of  the 
play  explains  its  popularity  in  Elizabethan  days,  and  its 
neglect  in  modern  times.  Air.  S.  Lee  ( Gentleman's  Maga- 
zine, 1880)  has  called  attention  to  its  quasi-historical 
frame-work,  and  its  many  references  to  contemporary 
events  and  personages: — (i)  The  leading  element  of  the 
play  refers  to  English  volunteers,  who,  under  Essex,  had 
just  joined  Henry  of  Navarre  in  France.  Note  the  name 
of  the  hero  of  the  play;  his  associates  are  named  after 
Navarre's  generals ;  of  these  Biron  was  the  best  known 
and  the  most  popular  in  England,  and  Shakespeare  seems 
to  have  given  us  a  life-like  portraiture  (in  later  years 
Chapman  made  him  the  hero  of  two  of  his  plays)  ;  (2) 
the  meeting  of  the  King  of  Navarre  and  the  Princess  of 
France  suggests  the  meeting  of  the  King  and,  Catherine  de 
Medici  in  1586  to  settle  disputes  between  Navarre  and  the 
reigning  king,  her  son,  "  decrepit  in  mind  and  body " ; 
(3)  the  references  to  Russian  diplomacy  ;  (4)  the  question 
of  academies  ;'^  (5)  ''the  ludicrous  side  of  contemporary 
country  life,  with  its  inefficient  constable,  its  pompous 
schoolmaster,  and  its  ignorant  curate  "  ;  (6)  contemporary 
affectations  of  speech  and  dress. 

It  is  customary  to  class  all  the  extravagances  of  speech 
characteristic  of  the  Elizabethan  age  as  Euphuism  ;  Shake- 
speare, however,  carefully  differentiates  the  pedantry  of 
the  New  Learning,  as  exemplified  by  Holofernes  ;  the  fan- 
tastic extravagance  of  the  Newer  Learning,  as  exemplified 
by  Armado ;  and  the  refined  charm,  the  fascination,  as 
well  as  the  dangers,  of  the  poetic  diction  of  the  age,  as 

*  From  this  point  of  view  and  in  other  respects  the  play  should 
be  compared  with  its  Victorian  counterpart,  Tennyson's  Princess. 


LOVE'S  LABOUR'S  LOST  Preface 

exemplified  by  Biron, — Shakespeare's  own  mouthpiece 
when  he  forswears  his 

"  Taffeta  phrases,  silken  terms  precise, 

Three-piled  hyperboles,  spruce  affectation, 

Figures  pedantical." 

Shakespeare  may  well  be  identified  with  his  favourite  char- 
acter, and  Biron's  plea  may  well  be  taken  as  the  poet's 
own : — 

"Yet  have  I  a  trick 
Of  the  old  rage; — bear  with  me,  I  am  sick; 
I  '11  leave  it  by  degrees." 

It  is  noteworthy  that  even  "  the  fanatical  phantasm  " 
Armado  was  drawn  from  the  life ;  he  was  a  well-known 
character  of  the  time,  and  Thomas  Churchyard  commem- 
orated his  death  in  a  poem  entitled  "  The  Phantasticall 
Monarchoes  Epitaph." 

Certain  critics  have  discovered  in  Holofernes  a  carica- 
ture of  Florio,  but  there  is  no  reason  for  supposing  that 
Shakespeare  wished  to  hold  up  to  ridicule  a  distinguished 
scholar,  to  whose  work  he  was  indebted.  The  name  Holo- 
fernes was  possibly  derived  from  Rabelais ;  Tubal  Holo- 
phernes  taught  Gargantua  his  A  B  C :  in  his  general  char- 
acteristics he  resembles  Rombus,  the  schoolmaster,  in 
Sidney's  The  Lady  of  the  May. 

The  close  of  the  play  suggests  that  Shakespeare  had 
been  reading  Chaucer's  Parlement  of  Foiiles.  Perhaps 
even  the  song  at  the  end  may  justly  remind  one  of  the 
fact  that  in  Chaucer's  poem  also  the  birds  sing  their  song 
as  they  disperse,  though  Shakespeare's  song,  as  far  as  its 
form  is  concerned,  is  a  mediaeval  "  debate."  ''  The  debate 
and  strife  between  summer  and  winter  "  was  imprinted 
by  Laurence  Andrews.  ''  The  pageant  of  the  Nine  Wor- 
thies "  was  a  frequent  subject  of  exhibition  by  the  "  base 
mechanicals  "  of  country  towns.  "  Divers  play  Alexan- 
der in  the  villages,"  observes  Williams  in  his  Discourse  of 
Warre,  1590,  "  but  few  or  none  in  the  field." 

Duration  of  Action.  The  action  of  the  play  lasts  prob- 
ably two  days.  Acts  I.  and  IL  cover  the  first  day.  Acts 
III.  and  IV.  the  second. 


LOVE'S  LABOUR 'S  LOST 


Critical  Comments. 
L 

Argument. 

L  Ferdinand,  King  of  Navarre,  and  three  of  his 
lords,  Biron,  Longaville,  and  Dumain,  forswear  the  so- 
ciety of  women,  and  agree  to  lead  austere  Hves,  devoted 
to  study,  for  three  years.  The  court  is  barred  against 
women  by  proclamation;  and  so  stringent  is  the  edict 
that  Costard,  a  clown,  who  has  been  seen  in  company 
with  Jaquenetta,  a  country  wench,  is  ordered  imprisoned 
for  a  week. 

n.  The  Princess  of  France,  with  her  ladies,  Rosaline, 
Maria,  and  Katharine,  and  other  attendants  approach 
the  court  of  Navarre  on  an  affair  of  state.  Their  con- 
templated visit  had  been  discussed  by  the  four  gentlemen 
when  the  latter  made  their  oath  of  retirement,  and  it  had 
been  agreed  that  the  ladies  must  be  received  as  befitted 
their  station.  The  gentlemen,  therefore,  meet  them 
courteously  outside  the  gates,  where  the  King  causes 
pavilions  to  be  erected  for  his  royal  guests,  at  the  same 
time  apologizing  that  an  oath  prevents  their  mainte- 
nance in  Navarre. 

in,  Biron,  who  was  the  last  to  sign  the  oath,  is  the 
first  to  weaken.  He  falls  in  love  w4th  Rosaline,  w^hom 
he  had  met  before.  He  writes  her  a  note  and  entrusts 
it  for  delivery  to  Costard,  now  at  liberty.  The  clown 
has  been  freed  by  Armado,  a  Spaniard,  in  order  that  he 
may  act  as  messenger  for  him  to  Jaquenetta. 

IV.  Costard  gets  the  notes  of  the  Spaniard  and  the 
nobleman    confused,    delivering    Armado's    missive    to 

6 


LOVE'S  LABOUR  'S  LOST  Comments 

Rosaline  and  Biron's  to  Jaquenetta.  The  Princess  and 
her  attendants  derive  much  amusement  from  the  Span- 
iard's fantastical  message;  while  Jaquenetta,  unable  to 
decipher  her  letter,  takes  it  to  a  schoolmaster,  who, 
recognizing-  Biron's  name,  and  being  aware  of  the  edict, 
sends  her  with  it  to  the  King. 

Afterwards  the  King  and  his  two  other  gentlemen  re- 
spectively fall  in  love  with  the  Princess  and  the  two  other 
ladies.  Each  lover  being  discovered  by  one  or  others 
of  his  friends  in  the  act  of  writing  love-verses,  is  obliged 
to  make  confession  of  his  passion — to  the  great  scorn 
of  Biron.  But  his  triumph  is  short-lived,  for  Jaquenetta 
arrives  with  his  missent  letter,  and  Biron  is  forced  to 
admit  his  own  shortcomings.  Since  all  are  forsworn, 
they  plan  to  make  war  upon  the  hearts  of  their  feminine 
visitors. 

V.  The  ladies  content  themselves  with  the  proffered 
hospitality  outside  the  court.  They  pass  their  time  in 
hunting  and  kindred  outdoor  pleasures.  Presently  all 
begin  to  receive  letters  and  love-tokens  from  their  sev- 
eral admirers,  who  visit  them  on  one  occasion  in  dis- 
guise. But  the  ladies,  having  got  wind  of  their  coming, 
also  disguise  themselves,  and  thus  confuse  the  court- 
iers, so  that  each  woos  the  wrong  one  and  becomes  the 
sport  of  her  wit.  The  gentlemen  retire  and  return  in 
their  proper  habits,  to  find  that  the  ladies  have  changed 
their  favours,  and  to  become  dismayed  at  the  blunders 
they  commit.  A  masque  is  presented,  and  in  the 
midst  of  it  the  Princess  receives  word  of  her  father's 
death.  She  prepares  for  speedy  departure.  The  King 
sues  openly  for  her  hand,  and  also  seeks  the  hands  of  her 
three  ladies  on  behalf  of  his  friends.  The  Princess  is 
not  yet  ready  to  yield,  but  bids  them  wait  a  twelvemonth 
and  a  day,  and  promises  to  give  favourable  answer  at  the 
expiration  of  that  time,  which  is  to  be  spent  by  the  King 
in  a  hermitage,  while  she  mourns  her  father.  Her  three 
ladies  likewise  impose  a  similar  penance  upon  their  lovers, 


Comments  LOVE'S  LABOUR  'S  LOST 

who  see,  for  the  moment  at  least,  that  their  love's  labour  's 
lost. 

McSpaddex:  Shakespearian  Synopses. 

n. 

Two  Sets  of  Characters. 

We  have  already  remarked  upon  the  higher  characters 
of  this  play  as  appearing  to  have  been  drawn  rather 
from  books  than  from  life.  They  have  little  of  the  close 
compacting  of  living  power,  which  so  marks  the  Poet's 
delineations  generally,  and  which  naturally  results  in  dis- 
tinctive features  and  characteristic  traits.  \\q  can  scarce 
distinguish  and  remember  them  as  individuals:  they 
run  together,  as  it  were,  in  our  thoughts,  as  being  rather 
personified  whimsicalities  and  affectations  than  affected 
and  whimsical  persons;  are  not  fully  cut  out  and 
rounded  into  severalty;  but  appear  somehow  too  much 
like  the  same  thing  under  several  variations:  in  short, 
they  affect  us  more  as  ingeniously-wrought  figures  and 
images  of  men  and  women,  than  as  real  men  and  women 
themselves;  though  we  must  confess  that  something  of 
a  determinate  and  specific  individuality  is  given  to  Biron 
and  RosaHne,  so  that  we  take  up  a  more  distinct  im- 
pression and  carry  away  a  much  clearer  remembrance 
of  them.  Thus  they  differ  from  Shakespeare's  other 
representations  very  much  as  a  portrait  taken  from  the 
life  differs  from  a  mere  copy;  which  a  practised  eye  will 
readily  distinguish,  without  being  told  the  facts.  So 
that  the  play  thus  far  almost  reverses  the  Poet's  general 
rule;  the  characters  existing  rather  for  the  sake  of  the 
plot,  than  the  plot  for  the  sake  of  the  characters;  these 
being  indeed  mainly  used  as  a  sort  of  ground  for  the 
projecting  and  carrying  on  of  a  dramatic  device.  Thus 
the  thing,  at  least  in  this  part,  is  not  so  much  a  play  as 
a  show.     Hence,  perhaps,  the  comparatively  little  inter- 

8 


LOVE'S  LABOUR  'S  LOST  Comments 

est  that  readers  generally  take  in  it:  for  a  mere  story 
or  show  is  interesting  only  while  it  is  new;  whereas  a 
work  of  art,  a  real  expression  of  character  and  life,  grows 
in  interest  as  we  grow  more  acquainted  with  it. 

The  other  set  of  characters,  however,  especially  Cos- 
tard, Armado,  and  Moth,  are  of  a  very  different  stamp. 
Here  the  Poet  was  evidently  feeding  of  the  fruit  that 
grows  from  observation,  not  "  of  the  dainties  that  are 
bred  in  a  book  " :  here  he  is  plainly  at  work  in  a  vein 
where  his  eye  and  hand  are  at  home;  moulding  his 
forms  out  of  the  materials  amidst  which  his  life  has  been 
passed  and  his  thinking  shaped.  For  whatsoever  proto- 
types of  Armado  may  be  found  in  Italian  comedies,  there 
is  no  denying  that  Shakespeare  constructed  that  "  mighty 
potentate  of  nonsense  "  in  the  strength  of  a  knowledge 
far  more  living  and  operative  than  could  have  been 
gained  by  mere  reading.  In  this  case  only  a  Spanish 
name  was  given  to  an  old  EngHsh  substance:  Coleridge 
informs  us  that  even  in  his  time  the  character  was  not 
extinct  in  the  cheaper  inns  of  North  Wales.  As  for 
Holofernes  the  schoolmaster,  and  Sir  Nathaniel  the 
curate,  those  prodigious  epicures  of  learned  vocables, 
who  "  have  been  at  a  great  feast  of  languages,  and  stolen 
the  scraps,"  Shakespeare's  age  was  just  the  time  for 
such  characters  to  be  generated,  and  trained  on  into 
ludicrous  perfection.  The  traits  uppermost  in  them 
were  but  the  natural  working  down  of  what  was 
then  a  leading  aim  with  the  highest  and  wittiest  in 
society — a  continual  effort  to  appear  clever  and  spir- 
ited, to  shine  and  entertain  by  talking  out  of  the 
common  way;  so  that  "the  courtiers,  and  men  of 
rank  and  fashion,  affected  a  display  of  wit,  point,  and 
sententious  observation,  that  would  be  deemed  intoler- 
able at  present."  This  straining  after  mental  ornament, 
which  so  filled  the  palace  and  the  cottage  with  every 
variety  of  small  wit,  was  indeed  a  disease,  and  perhaps 
this  play  yields  proof  enough  that  Shakespeare  viewed  it 
as  such:   yet  there  is  no  telling  how  much  it  may  have 

9 


Comments  LOVE'S  LABOUR 'S  LOST 

had  to  do  with  the  discipline,  which  taught  Hooker  to 
write  the  richest,  noblest,  most  varied  and  musical  prose 
style  that  has  yet  been  written  in  the  English  tongue. 
Nor  in  our  time,  as  perhaps  in  all  times  when  learning 
is  duly  prized,  is  there  wanting  a  class  of  men  whose  or- 
dinary talk  shows  them  to  "  have  lived  long  on  the  alms- 
basket  of  words  "  ;  thus  reversing  the  fine  old  maxim  of 
Roger  Ascham,  "  to  speak  as  the  common  people  do, 
to  think  as  wise  men  do." 

Hudson  :  The  Works  of  Shakespeare. 


in. 

Thwarted  by  the  Ladies. 

The  young  King  of  Navarre  with  three  of  his  knightly 
companions  form  the  strange  resolution  of  devoting 
three  years  to  study  and  philosophy  in  strict  seclusion 
from  the  world  and  especially  from  all  female  society. 
They  have  bound  themselves  by  an  oath  to  keep  this 
engagement.  Their  resolution,  however,  is  soon 
thwarted  by  the  arrival  of  the  beautiful  Princess  of 
France,  accompanied  by  her  ladies,  who  seeks  an  in- 
terview on  urgent  affairs  of  state,  and  therefore  cannot 
be  refused.  All  the  champions  of  philosophy  and  se- 
clusion fall  in  love  with  these  ladies,  who  are  as  lovable 
as  they  are  mischievous.  Hereupon  ensues  a  lively  com- 
bat of  w4t  and  caprice,  in  which  the  knights  either  taunt 
and  ridicule  one  another  on  account  of  their  broken 
vow — trying  at  the  same  time  to  justify  themselves,  or 
seek  to  win  their  ladies'  hearts;  the  latter,  however, 
cleverly  manage  to  defend  themselves,  outdo  wit  by  wit, 
and  satisfactorily  punish  the  gentlemen  for  breaking  a 
vow,  as  quickly  renounced  as  it  was  foolishly  made,  and 
for  their  affectation  of  superior  wisdom.  .  .  .  The 
fine  and  ever  correct  judgement  of  noble  women,  is  here 
as  triumphant  as  their  great  talent  for  social  wit  and 

10 


LOVrS  LABOUR  'S  LOST  Comments 

refined  intrigue.  The  moral  of  the  piece  may  be  said  to 
be  contained  in  the  speech  of  the  Princess  where  she 
condemns  the  King  to  a  twelvemonth's  fast  and  strict 
seclusion,  in  the  sense  intimated  above,  and  again  in 
the  words  of  Rosaline,  in  which  she  makes  it  a  condition 
to  the  vain  Biron — a  man  who  boasts  of  the  power  of 
his  mind  and  wit  in  social  intercourse — that,  to  win  her 
love  he  shall  for  a  twelvemonth  from  day  to  day  visit 
"  the  speechless  sick "  and  "  converse  with  groaning 
wretches,"  and,  in  order  to  exercise  all  the  powers  of 
his  wit,  demands  of  him  ''  to  force  the  pained  impotent  to 
smile."  The  end  of  the  comedy  thus,  to  a  certain  extent, 
returns  to  where  it  began. 

Ulrici:  Shakspeare's  Dramatic  Art. 


IV. 

The  Humorous  and  the  Artificial  in  Conflict. 

There  was  a  double  unnaturalness  in  the  scheme  of  the 
celibates,  and  the  comic  nemesis  upon  it  is  double.  In  the 
first  place,  it  was  an  unnatural  state  of  things  as  regarded 
their  relations  to  one  another,  and  they  needed  a  mutual 
oath  to  support  their  resolution;  accordingly,  they  at- 
tempt to  conceal  their  lapses  from  one  another,  but  are 
betrayed.  In  a  superbly  comic  scene  the  four  come  one 
after  another  to  a  sequestered  spot  in  the  park,  seeking  a 
secret  place  where  they  may  indulge  in  a  recitation  of 
the  love-sonnet  which  each  has  composed  to  his  mistress, 
beheving  himself  to  be  the  only  offender;  and  each  in 
turn  hides  as  he  sees  his  comrade  coming  on  the  same 
errand,  hoping  to  surprise  his  fellow  in  an  act  of  perjury, 
while  he  conceals  his  own.  The  last  to  arrive  is  so  sur- 
prised by  the  third,  when  suddenly  the  second  leaps  out 
of  ambush  to  confront  the  third,  and  then  the  first  in 
his  turn  comes  down  upon  the  second.  Nor  has  he  en- 
joyed his  triumph  over  the  three  long,  when  the  arrival 

II 


Comments  LOVE'S  LABOUR  'S  LOST 

of  an  intercepted  letter  reduces  him  to  the  level  of  his 
companions.  Again,  the  celibate  scheme  of  life  was  a 
violation  of  nature  in  reference  to  the  ladies;  and  con- 
sequently there  is  a  further  nemesis  of  ridicule  when  the 
men  break  through  their  vow,  after  having  urged  it  to 
their  visitors  by  such  overt  means  as  keeping  them  out- 
side the  palace. 

Princess.    None  are  so  surely  caught,  when  they  are  catch'd, 

As  wit  turn'd  fool    .    .    . 
Rosaline.    The  blood  of  you-th  burns  not  with  such  excess 

As  gravity's  revolt  to  wantonness. 

The  celibates  can  recover  their  position  only  by  enter- 
ing into  the  humour  of  the  circumstances  which  have 
turned  against  them.  In  the  scene  of  their  betrayal  to 
one  another,  after  a  spirited  attempt  to  brazen  it  out, 
they  yield  to  the  force  of  the  situation,  calling  on  Biron 
to  give  them  reasons  for  the  course  they  have  resolved 
on,  to  cheat  the  devil  after  the  sin  has  been  committed; 
this  he  does  in  a  mock  pompous  oration,  after  which  they 
lay  these  glozings  by,  and  set  about  wooing  these  girls  of 
France.  But  they  are  not  yet  completely  purged  of  their 
sin  against  humour,  and  resolve  to  cover  their  approach 
with  an  elaborate  masque — another  of  the  conventionali- 
ties of  the  age  to  be  pilloried.  This  purpose  unfortu- 
nately is  overheard,  and  communicated  to  the  ladies,  who 
determine  to  disconcert  it,  solemnly  turning  their  backs 
at  the  supreme  moment  of  the  compHment,  and  after- 
wards, in  the  more  miscellaneous  conversation,  arran- 
ging to  exchange  masks,  so  that  each  courtier  pours  his 
adoration  into  the  ear  of  the  wrong  mistress.  The  celi- 
bates fully  recover  their  equahty  with  their  visitors  only 
when  they  enter  into  the  humour  of  their  persecutors, 
and — hardest  test  of  all — join  in  abuse  of  their  spoiled 
pageants.  Then  the  action  reaches  its  cHmax  in  a  pro- 
longed cascade  of  humorous  fireworks. 

MouLTON  :  Shakespeare  as  a  Dramatic  Artist. 

12 


LOVE'S  LABOUR  'S  LOST  Comments 


Armado  as  a  Caricature. 

Armado's  bombast  may  probably  be  accepted  as  a  not 
too  extravagant  caricature  of  the  bombast  of  the  period. 
Certain  it  is  that  the  schoolmaster  Rombus,  in  Sir  PhiHp 
Sidney's  Lady  of  the  May,  addresses  the  Queen  in  a  strain 
no  whit  less  ridiculous  than  that  of  Holofernes.  But 
what  avails  the  justice  of  a  parody  if,  in  spite  of  the  art 
and  care  lavished  upon  it,  it  remains  as  tedious  as  the 
mannerism  it  ridicules!  And  this  is  unfortunately  the 
case  in  the  present  instance.  Shakespeare  had  not  yet 
attained  the  maturity  and  detachment  of  mind  which  could 
enable  him  to  rise  high  above  the  follies  he  attacks,  and 
to  sweep  them  aside  with  full  authority.  He  buries  him- 
self in  them,  circumstantially  demonstrates  their  ab- 
surdities, and  is  still  too  inexperienced  to  realise  how 
he  thereby  inflicts  upon  the  spectator  and  the  reader  the 
full  burden  of  their  tediousness.  It  is  very  characteristic 
of  Elizabeth's  taste  that,  even  in  1598,  she  could  still  take 
pleasure  in  the  play.  All  this  fencing  with  words  ap- 
pealed to  her  quick  intelligence;  while,  with  the  un- 
abashed sensuousness  characteristic  of  the  daughter  of 
Henry  VHI.  and  x\nne  Boleyn,  she  found  entertainment 
in  the  playwright's  freedom  of  speech,  even,  no  doubt, 
in  the  equivocal  badinage  between  Boyet  and  Maria 
(IV.  I.). 

As  was  to  be  expected,  Shakespeare  is  here  more  de- 
pendent on  models  than  in  his  later  works.  From  Lyly, 
the  most  popular  comedy-writer  of  the  day,  he  probably 
borrowed  the  idea  of  his  Armado,  who  answers  pretty 
closely  to  Sir  Tophas  in  Lyly's  Endymion,  copied,  in  his 
turn,  from  Pyrgopolinices,  the  boastful  soldier  of  the 
oldj^atin  comedy.  It  is  to  be  noted,  also,  that  the  brag- 
gart and  pedant,  the  two  comic  figures  of  this  play,  are 

13 


Comments  LOVE'S  LABOUR  'S  LOST 

permanent  types  on  the  Italian  stage,  which  in  so  many 
ways  influenced  the  development  of  English  comedy. 
Brandes:  William  Shakespeare, 

VL 

Holofernes  and  ShaKespeare's  School=days. 

While  the  curate,  Sir  Nathaniel,  is  reading  Biron's 
epistle,  which  "  accidentally  or  by  way  of  progression 
had  miscarried,"  Holofernes,  full  of  pedagogic  self-im- 
portance, cannot  resist  airing  at  large  his  professional 
accomplishments.  He  accordingly  breaks  forth  with  a 
sounding  line  from  the  school  author  so  dear  to  the  pe- 
dantic mind: — 

"  Faust e  precor  gclida  quando  pecus  omnc  sub  umbra  Ruminat 
— and  so  forth.  Ah,  good  old  Mantuan  !  I  may  speak  of  thee  as 
the  traveller  doth  of  Venice : — 

* — Venegia,  Venegia, 
Chi  noil  te  vede  ei  non  te  pregia' 
Old  Mantuan,  old  Mantuan !  who  understandeth  thee  not,  loves 
thee  not." 

Both  poet  and  critic  were,  however,  as  usual,  com- 
paratively powerless  against  the  pedants;  or  rather, 
perhaps,  it  would  be  more  correct  to  say  the  vis  inertioe 
of  use  and  wont  still  kept  the  old  Mantuan  in  his  place 
as  a  favourite  school  author.  ...  It  would  seem, 
however,  that  Shakespeare  must  have  had  some  experi- 
ence of  the  special  exercises  belonging'  to  the  higher 
forms,  amongst  others  those  of  making  Latin,  of  writing 
Latin  epistles,  themes,  and  verses.  At  least  he  represents 
Holofernes  as  criticising  Biron's  love  sonnet  according 
to  the  estabHshed  stages  and  elements  of  progress  in  this 
department  of  school  work.  Two  of  the  more  important 
of  these  stages  were  technically  known  as  imitation  and 
invention,  the  lower  exercise,  or  imitation,  being  pre- 
paratory to  the  higher  and  more  independent  effort  re- 

14 


LOVE'S  LABOUR  'S  LOST  Comments 

quired  for  invention.  Imitation  consisted  In  taking  a 
passage  from  some  author  read  in  the  class,  and,  while 
retaining  the  substance,  altering  the  form.     .     .     . 

Keeping  these  different  elements  of  the  upper-school 
exercises  in  view,  we  can  better  understand  the  exact 
force  and  bearing  of  the  criticism  Holofernes  volunteers 
on  Biron's  love  verses.  The  pedant,  it  will  be  remem- 
bered, after  airing  his  knowledge  of  the  Eclogues,  and 
giving  forth  the  Italian  proverb  about  Venice,  had  been 
impatiently  humming  to  himself  while  the  curate  read 
the  letter  just  delivered  by  Jaquenetta.  At  length,  his 
patience  being  exhausted,  he  addresses  himself  directly 
to  the  reader :  "  Under  pardon,  sir,  what  are  the  con- 
tents?  or,  rather,  as  Horace  says  in  his  "     Then, 

catching  sight  of  the  manuscript,  he  exclaims : — 

" — What,  my  soul,  verses  ? 
"  Nath.  Ay,  sir,  and  very  learned. 
"  Hoi.  Let  me  hear  a  staff,  a  stanza,  a  verse,  Lege,  domine" 

The  curate  having  read  the  verses,  the  pedagogic  habit 
is  so  inveterate  with  Holofernes  that  he  cannot  help 
coming  the  schoolmaster  over  even  his  mild-mannered 
and  deferential  companion.  He  complains  that  he  has 
missed  the  necessary  elisions,  and  not  given  the  proper 
accent.  ''  You  find  not  the  apostrophes,  and  so  miss 
the  accent :  let  me  supervise  the  canzonet."  Then  ta- 
king the  paper  Into  his  hands  he  proceeds,  with  a  frown 
of  critical  concentration  and  the  outstretching  of  a  di- 
dactic forefinger  towards  the  offending  document,  to  de- 
Uver  his  authoritative  judgement: — 

"  Here  are  only  numbers  ratified ;  but,  for  the  elegancy,  facility, 
and  golden  cadence  of  poesy,  caret.  Ovidius  Naso  was  the  man : 
and  why,  indeed,  Naso ;  but  for  smelHng  out  the  odoriferous 
flowers  of  fancy,  the  jerks  of  invention!  Imitari  is  nothing:  so 
doth  the  hound  his  master,  the  ape  his  keeper,  the  tired  horse  his 
rider." 

We  can  fancy  Master  Thomas  Hunt  In  the  ancient 
Stratford  school-house  reading  amongst  the  exercises  of 

15 


Comments  LOVE'S  LABOUR  *S  LOST 

the  higher  forms  one  signed  W.  Shakespeare,  but,  un- 
less he  were  exceptionally  mole-eyed,  hardly  with  the 
same  result.  The  numbers  might  not  indeed  be  per- 
fectly ratified,  as  the  boy's  mastery  over  longs  and  shorts 
might  be  still  defective.  But  the  exercise,  if  marked  by 
blemishes  in  the  details  of  scholarship,  could  hardly  be 
wholly  wanting  in  facility,  in  flowers  of  fancy,  and  jerks 
of  invention.  However  this  may  be,  it  seems  clear  from 
the  extract  that  Shakespeare  was  familiar  with  the  kind 
of  exercise,  as  well  as  with  the  cut  and  dried  scholastic 
principles  according  to  which  it  was  usually  criticised. 

Baynes:  Shakespeare  Studies. 

VIL 
Biron. 

The  leading  and  predominance  of  Biron  In  the  first 
scene  continues  all  through  the  more  elevated  portion 
of  the  play,  and  is  the  key  to  the  structure  of  the  har- 
mony. This  character.  In  itself,  is  drawn  with  a  vigour 
and  spirit  equal  to  anything  we  possess  of  Shakespeare's; 
his  figure  is  fully  relieved  and  attracts  the  eye  and  de- 
tains it,  and  gives  centre  and  interest  to  the  entire  com- 
position. 

Lloyd  :  Critical  Essays  on  the  Plays  of  Shakespeare. 


Berowne  [Biron],  the  exponent  of  Shakspere's  own 
thought,  who  entered  into  the  youthful.  Idealistic  project 
of  his  friends,  with  a  satisfactory  assurance  that  the 
time  would  come  when  the  entire  dream-structure  would 
tumble  ridiculously  about  the  ears  of  them  all — Berowne 
[Biron]  is  yet  a  larger  nature  than  the  Princess  or  Rosa- 
line. His  good-sense  is  the  good-sense  of  a  thinker  and 
of  a  man  of  action.  When  he  is  most  flouted  and  be- 
mocked^  we  yet  acknowledge  him  victorious  and  the 
master;  and  Rosaline  will  confess  the  fact  by-and-by. 

Dowden:  Shc^spere. 

i6 


LOVE'S  LABOUR  'S  LOST  Comments 

Of  the  celibates  Biron  has  most  sense  of  humour, 
especially  seen  in  his  ready  appreciation  of  the  arch-per- 
secutor Boyet,  and  accordingly  he  always  has  the  ad- 
vantage over  his  fellows:  he  alone  objects  to  the  scheme 
at  the  outset,  he  is  the  last  to  be  exposed  in  the  discov- 
ery scene,  and  the  first  to  enter  into  the  spirit  of  the 
finale. 

Moulton:  Shakespeare  as  a  Dramatic  Artist. 

VIIL 

Characterizations. 

If  we  were  to  part  with  any  of  the  author's  comedies, 
it  should  be  this.  Yet  we  should  be  loth  to  part  with 
Don  Adriano  de  Armado,  that  mighty  potentate  of  non- 
sense; or  his  page,  that  handful  of  wit;  with  Nathaniel 
the  curate,  or  Holofernes  the  schoolmaster,  and  their 
dispute  after  dinner,  on  "  the  golden  cadences  of  poesy  " ; 
with  Costard  the  clown,  or  Dull  the  constable.  Biron  is 
too  accomplished  a  character  to  be  lost  to  the  world, 
and  yet  he  could  not  appear  without  his  fellow-courtiers 
and  the  king:  and  if  we  w^ere  to  leave  out  the  ladies, 
the  gentlemen  would  have  no  mistresses.  So  that  we 
believe  we  must  let  the  whole  play  stand  as  it  is,  and 
we  shall  hardly  venture  to  "  set  a  mark  of  reprobation 
on  it."  Still  we  have  some  objections  to  the  style,  which 
we  think  savours  more  of  the  pedantic  spirit  of  Shake- 
spear's  time  than  of  his  own  genius;  more  of  controver- 
sial divinity,  and  the  logic  of  Peter  Lombard,  than  of  the 
inspiration  of  the  Muse.  It  transports  us  quite  as  much 
to  the  manners  of  the  court,  and  the  quirks  of  courts  of 
law,  as  to  the  scenes  of  nature,  or  the  fairy-land  of  his 
own  imagination. 

Hazlitt  :  Characters  of  Shakespears  Plays. 


Both   the   characters   and   the   dialogue   are    such   as 
youthful  talent  might  well  invent,  without  much  knowl- 

17 


Comments  LOVE'S  LABOUR  'S  LOST 

edge  of  real  life,  and  would  indeed  be  likely  to  invent,  be- 
fore the  experience  and  observation  of  varied  society. 
The  comedy  presents  a  picture,  not  of  the  true  every- 
day life  of  the  great  or  the  beautiful,  but  exhibits  groups 
of  such  brilliant  personages  as  they  might  be  supposed 
to  appear  in  the  artificial  conversation,  the  elaborate  and 
continual  effort  to  surprise  or  dazzle  by  wit  or  elegance, 
which  w^as  the  prevailing  taste  of  the  age,  in  its  literature, 
its  poetry,  and  even  its  pulpit;  and  in  which  the  nobles 
and  beauties  of  the  day  were  accustomed  to  array  them- 
selves for  exhibition,  as  in  their  state  attire,  for  occasions 
of  display.  All  this,  when  the  leading  idea  was  once 
caught,  was  quite  within  the  reach  of  the  young  poet  to 
imitate  or  surpass,  with  Httle  or  no  personal  knowledge 
of  aristocratic — or  what  would  now  be  termed  fashion- 
able— society. 

Verplanck:  The  Illustrated  Shakespeare. 

Love's  Labour  's  Lost  is  one  of  the  earliest  of  Shake- 
spere's  dramas,  and  has  many  of  the  pecuHarities  of  his 
poems,  which  are  also  the  work  of  his  earlier  life.  The 
opening  speech  of  the  king  on  the  immortality  of  fame — 
on  the  triumph  of  fame  over  death — and  the  nobler  parts 
of  Biron,  display  something  of  the  monumental  style 
of  Shakespere's  Sonnets,  and  are  not  without  their  con- 
ceits of  thought  and  expression.  This  connexion  of 
Love's  Labour's  Lost  with  Shakespere's  poems  is  further 
enforced  by  the  actual  insertion  in  it  of  three  sonnets 
and  a  faultless  song;  which,  in  accordance  with  his  prac- 
tice in  other  plays,  are  inwoven  into  the  argument  of  the 
piece  and,  like  the  golden  ornaments  of  a  fair  woman, 
give  it  a  peculiar  air  of  distinction.  There  is  merriment 
in  it  also,  with  choice  illustrations  of  both  wit  and 
humour;  a  laughter,  often  exquisite,  ringing,  if  faintly, 
yet  as  genuine  laughter  still,  though  sometimes  sinking 
into  mere  burlesque,  which  has  not  lasted  quite  so  well. 
And  Shakespere  brings  a  serious  effect  out  of  the  trifling 
of  his  characters.    A  dainty  love-making  is  interchanged 

i8 


LOVE'S  LABOUR  'S  LOST  Comments 

with  the  more  cumbrous  play:  below  the  many  artifices 
of  Biron's  amorous  speeches  we  may  trace  sometimes 
the  "  unutterable  longing " ;  and  the  lines  in  which 
Katharine  describes  the  blighting  through  love  of  her 
younger  sister  are  one  of  the  most  touching  things  in 
older  literature.  Again,  how  many  echoes  seem  awa- 
kened by  those  strange  words,  actually  said  in  jest! — 
"  The  sweet  war-man  (Hector  of  Troy)  is  dead  and  rot- 
ten ;  sweet  chucks,  beat  not  the  bones  of  the  buried : 
when  he  breathed,  he  was  a  man !  " — words  which  may 
remind  us  of  Shakespere's  own  epitaph.  In  the  last 
scene,  an  ingenious  turn  is  given  to  the  action,  so  that 
the  piece  does  not  conclude  after  the  manner  of  other 
comedies : — 

"  Our  wooing  doth  not  end  like  an  old  play; 
Jack  hath  not  Jill :  " 

and  Shakespere  strikes  a  passionate  note  across  it  at 
last,  in  the  entrance  of  the  messenger,  who  announces 
to  the  princess  that  the  king  her  father  is  suddenly  dead. 

Pater:  Appreciations. 


The  characters  in  this  play  are  either  impersonated  out 
of  Shakespeare's  own  multiformity  by  imaginative  self- 
position,  or  out  of  such  as  a  country  town  and  school- 
boy's observation  might  supply — the  curate,  the  school- 
master, the  Armado  (who  even  in  my  time  was  not  ex- 
tinct in  the  cheaper  inns  of  North  Wales),  and  so  on. 
The  satire  is  chiefly  on  follies  of  words.  Biron  and 
Rosaline  are  evidently  the  pre-existent  state  of  Benedict 
and  Beatrice,  and  so,  perhaps,  is  Boyet  of  Lafeu,  and 
Costard  of  the  Tapster  in  Measure  for  Measure;  and 
the  frequency  of  the  rhymes,  the  sweetness  as  well  as  the 
smoothness  of  the  metre,  and  the  number  of  acute  and 
fancifully  illustrated  aphorisms,  are  all  as  they  ought  to 
be  in  a  poet's  youth.  True  genius  begins  by  generali- 
zing and  condensing ;  it  ends  in  realizing  and  expanding. 
It  first  collects  the  seeds. 

19 


Comments  LOVE'S  LABOUR  'S  LOST 

Yet  if  this  juvenile  drama  had  been  the  only  one  ex- 
tant of  our  Shakespeare,  and  we  possessed  the  tradition 
only  of  his  riper  works,  or  accounts  of  them  in  writers 
who  had  not  even  mentioned  this  play,  how  many  of 
Shakespeare's  characteristic  features  might  we  not  still 
have  discovered  in  Love's  Labour  's  Lost,  though  as  in  a 
portrait  taken  of  him  in  his  boyhood! 

I  can  never  sufficiently  admire  the  wonderful  activity 
of  thought  throughout  the  whole  of  the  first  scene  of  the 
play,  rendered  natural,  as  it  is,  by  the  choice  of  the 
characters,  and  the  whimsical  determination  on  which 
the  drama  is  founded.  A  whimsical  determination  cer- 
tainly; yet  not  altogether  so  very  improbable  to  those 
who  are  conversant  in  the  history  of  the  Middle  Ages, 
with  their  Courts  of  Love,  and  all  that  lighter  drapery 
of  chivalry,  which  engaged  even  mighty  kings  with  a 
sort  of  serio-comic  interest,  and  may  well  be  supposed 
to  have  occupied  more  completely  the  smaller  princes, 
at  a  time  when  the  noble's  or  prince's  court  contained 
the  only  theatre  of  the  domain  or  principality.  This  sort 
of  story,  too,  was  admirably  suited  to  Shakespeare's 
times,  when  the  English  court  was  still  the  foster-mother 
of  the  state  and  the  muses ;  and  when,  in  consequence, 
the  courtiers,  and  men  of  rank  and  fashion,  affected  a 
display  of  wit,  point,  and  sententious  observation  that 
would  be  deemed  intolerable  at  present,  but  in  which  a 
hundred  years  of  controversy,  involving  every  great 
political,  and  every  dear  domestic,  interest,  had  trained 
all  but  the  lowest  classes  to  participate. 

Coleridge:  Notes  and  Lectures  upon  Shakespeare. 


20 


Loves  Labour's  Lost, 


DRAMATIS  PERSONAE. 

Ferdinand^  king  of  Navarre. 

BlRON^  1 

LoNGAViLLE,    V    lords  attending  on  the  King. 

DUMAIN,  ) 

'        v  lords  attending  on  the  Princess  of  France. 
Mercade,  ) 

Don  Adriano  de  Armado^  a  fantastical  Spaniard. 

Sir  Nathaniel,  a  curate. 

Holofernes,  a  schoolmaster. 

Dull,  a  constable. 

Costard,  a  clown. 

Moth,  page  to  Armada.  » 

A  Forester. 

The  Princess  of  France. 
Rosaline,      \ 

Maria,  V-    ladies  attending  on  the  Princess. 

Katharine,  ) 

Jaquenetta,  a  country  wench. 

Lords,  Attendants,  etc. 

Scene  :   Navarre. 


22 


Love's  Labour 's  Lost. 

ACT  FIRST. 

Scene  I. 

The  King  of  Navarre's  park. 

Enter  Ferdinand,   king  of  Navarre,  Biron,  Longaville, 
and  Dumain. 

King.  Let  fame,  that  all  hunt  after  in  their  lives, 
Live  registered  upon  our  bmzen  tombs.  t^ 

And  then  grace  us  in  the  rn^i^gif^^f  ripath; 
When,  spite  of  co^SrMf^evouring  Time, 
The  endeavour  of  this  pres^nj  breath  may  buy 
That  honour  which  shall  balenisscvthe's  keen  edge, 
And  make  us  heirs  of  all  eternity. 
Therefore,  brave  conquerors, — for  so  you  are. 
That  war  against  your  own  affections 
And  the  huge  army  of  the  world's  desires, —  lo 

Our  late  edict  shall  strongly  stand  in  force : 
Navarre  shall  be  the  wonder  of  the  world; 
Our  court  shall  be  a  little  Academe,    g^py^a/rjjt^c 
Still  and  contemplative  in  Imffg^^nT**"^^ 
You  three,  Biron,  Dumain,  and  Longaville, 
Have  sworn  for  three  years'  term  to  live  with  me 
My  fellow-scholars,  and  to  keep  those  statutes 
That  are  recorded  in  this  schedule  here: 
Your   oaths   are   pass'd;   and   now   subscribe   your 

names, 
That  his  own  hand  may  strike  his  honour  down     20 
That  violates  the  smallest  branch  herein: 

23 


Act  I.  Sc.  i.  LOVE'S  LABOUR 'S  LOST 

If  you  are  arm'd  to  do  as  sworn  to  do, 
Subscribe  to  your  deep  oaths,  and  keep  it  too. 
Long.  I  am  resolved;   'tis  but  a  three  years'  fast: 
The  mind  shall  banquet,  though  the  body  pine: 
Fat  paunches  have  lean  pates;  and  dainty  bits 
Make  rich  the  ribs,  but  bankrupt  quite  the  wits. 
Dum.  My  loving  lord,  Dumain  is  mortified: 

The  grosser  manner  of  these  world's  delights 
He  throws  upon  the  gross  world's  baser  slaves;     30 
To  love,  to  wealth,  to  pomp,  I  pine  and  die; 
With  all  these  living  in  philosophy. 
Biron.  I  can  but  say  their  protestation  over; 
So  much,  dear  liege,  I  have  already  sworn, 
That  is,  to  live  and  study  here  three  years. 
But  there  are  other  strict  observances; 
As,  not  to  see  a  woman  in  that  term. 
Which  I  hope  well  is  not  enrolled  there; 
And  one  day  in  a  week  to  touch  no  food. 
And  but  one  meal  on  every  day  beside,  40 

The  which  I  hope  is  not  enrolled  there ; 
n      ^-777       And  then,  to  sleep  but  three  hours  in  the  night, 
^  "^   And  not  be  seen  tg^winfj^lflie  day.- 
^  When  I  was  wont  to  think  no  harm  all  night, 

^  And  make  a  dark  night  too  of  half  the  day, — 

Which  I  hope  well  is  not  enrolled  there : 
O,  these  are  barren  tasks,  too  hard  to  keep, 
Not  to  see  ladies,  study,  fast,  not  sleep! 
King.  Your  oath  is  pass'd  to  pass  away  from  these. 
Biron,  Let  me  say  no,  my  liege,  an  if  you  please :  50 

I  only  swore  to  study  with  your  grace. 
And  stay  here  in  your  court  for  three  years'  space. 
Long.  You  swore  to  that,  Biron,  and  to  the  rest, 

24 


LOVE'S  LABOUR  'S  LOST 


Act  L  Sc.  i. 


60 


Biron.  By  yea  and  nay,  sir,  then  I  swore  in  jest. 

What  is  the  end  of  study?  let  me  know. 
King.  Why,  that  to   know,   which   else  we  should  not 

know. 
Biron.  Things  hid  and  barr'd,  you  mean,  from  cbmrnoir 

sense? 
King.  Ay,  that  is  study's  god-like  recompence. 
Biron.  Come  on,  then;  I  will  swear  to  study  so, 
To  know  the  thing  I  am  forbid  to  know: 
As  thus, — to  study  where  I  well  may  dine, 

When  I  to  feast  expressly  am  forbid; 
Or  study  where  to  meet  some  mistress  fine, 

When  mistresses  from  common  sense  are  hid; 
Or,  having  sworn  too  hard  a  keeping  oath, 
Study  to  break  it,  and  not  break  my  troth. 
If  study's  game  be  thus,  and  this  be  so, 
Study  knows  that  which  yet  it  doth  not  know: 
Swear  me  to  this,  and  I  will  ne'er  say  no. 
King.  These  be  the  stops  that  hinder  study  quite. 

And  train  our  intellects  to  vain  delight. 
Biron.  Why,  all  delights  are  vain ;  but  that  most  vain. 
Which,  with  pain  purchased,  doth  inherit  pain: 
As,  painfully  to  pore  upon  a  book 

To  seek  the  light  of  truth;   while  truth  the  while 
Doth  falsely  bhnd  the  eyesight  of  his  look: 

Light,  seeking  light,  doth  light  of  light  beguile: 
So,  ere  you  find  where  light  in  darkness  lies, 
Your  light  grows  dark  by  losing  of  your  eyes. 
Study  me  how  to  please  the  eye  indeed,  80 

By  fixing  i^ipon  a  iairer  eye;  ..         (^  "(LJuMjUj^ 

Who  d^55|- soJSi^eye  shall  be  hig%ed,  ^  £,at^  £U. 
And  give  him  light  that  it  was  blinded  by.  -^^  /uajx^zS^ 


70 


Act  I.  Sc.  i.  LOVE'S  LABOUR 'S  LOST 

Study  is  like  the  heaven's  glorious  sun, 

That  will  not  be  deep-search'd  with  saucy  looks : 
Small  have  continual  plodders  ever  won 

Save'oase  autnority  from  other's  books. 
These  earthly  godfathers  of  heaven's  lights. 

That  give  a  name  to  every  fixed  star, 
Have  no  more  profit  of  their  shining  nights  90 

Than  those  that  walk  and  wot  not  what  they  are. 
Too  much  to  know,  is  to  know  nought  but  fame; 
And  every  godfather  can  give  a  name. 
r)j^^<ze^King.  How  well  he  's  read,  to  reason  against  reading! 
jpenA^  Diim.  Proceeded  well,  to  stop  all  goocrproceeding! 
\.(S.cced^  Lojig.  He  weeds  the  corn,  and  still  lets  grow  the  weeding. 
'  ^^f^^^^^on.  The  spring  is  near,  when  green  geese  are  a-breed- 

Dimr.  How  follows  that? 

Biron.  Fit  in  his  place  and  time. 

Dum.  In  reason  nothing. 

Biron.  Something,  then,  in  rhyme. 

King.  Biron  is  like  an  envious  inea^ng^rost.  100 

That  bites  the  first-born  infants  of  the  spring. 
Biron.  Well,  say  I  am;  why  should  proud  summer  boast, 
Before  the  birds  have  any  cause  to  sing? 
Why  should  I  joy  in  any  abortive  birth? 
At  Christmas  I  no  more  desi^a  nose,  ^^.^rv^/l^ 
Than  wish  a  snow  in  May's  new-|aS^Ted  snows ; 
But  like  of  each  thing  that  in  season  grows. 
So  you,  to  study  now  it  is  too  late. 
Climb  o'er  the  house  to  unlock  the  little  gate. 
(c^(l^     King.  Well,^it  you^ggt :    go  home,  Biron,  adieu.       no 
^acuJf  Biron.  No,  my  good  lord;  I  have  sworn  to  stay  with  you: 
.cAjT^'hJXtJ     And  though  I  have  for  barbarism  spoke  more 
Than  for  that  angel  knowledge  you  can  say, 

26 


LOVE'S  LABOUR  'S  LOST  Act  L  Sc.  i. 

Yet  confident  I'll  keep  what  I  have  swore, 
And  bide  the  penance  of  each  three  years'  day. 

Give  me  the  paper;  let  me  read  the  same; 

And  to  the  strict'st  decrees  I  '11  write  my  name. 
Kijig.  How  well  this  yielding  rescues  thee  from  shame! 
Biron.   [Reads]    '  Item,  That  no  woman  shall  come 

within  a  mile  of  my  court,' — Hath  this  been  120 

proclaimed? 
Long.  Four  days  ago. 
Biron.  Let 's   see   the   penalty.     [Reads]    '  On  pain 

of    losing    her    tongue.'      Who    devised    this 

penalty? 
Long.  Marry,  that  did  I. 
Biron.  Sweet  lord,  and  why? 

Long.  To  fright  them  hence  with  th^^ead  penalty. 
Biron.  A  dangerous  law  against  ggrminyi 

[Reads]   '  Item,   If  any   man   be   seen   to   talk  130 

with  a  woman  within  the  term  of  three  years, 

he  shall  endure  such  public  shame  as  the  rest 

of  the  court  can  possibly  devise.' 

This  article,  my  Hege,  yourself  must  break; 
For  well  you  know  here  comes  in  embassy 

The  French  king's  daughter  with  yourself  to  speak, 
A  maid  of  grace  and  complete  majesty, — 

About  surrender  up  of  Aquitaine 

To  her  decrepit,  sick,  and  bedrid  father: 

Therefore  this  article  is  made  in  vain,  140 

Or  vainly  comes  the  admired  princess  hither. 
King.  What  say  you,  lords?  why,  this  was  quite  forgot. 
Biron.  So  study  evermore  is  overshot: 

While  it  doth  study  to  have  what  it  would. 

It  doth  forget  to  do  the  thing  it  should; 

27 


Act  I.  Sc.  i.  LOVrS  LABOUR  'S  LOST 

And  when  it  hath  the  thing  it  hunteth  most, 
'Tis  won  as  towns  with  fire,  so  won,  so  lost. 
King.  We  musL^  force  disnens^  with  this  decree; 

She  must  n^^^iere  on  ^^necessity. 
Biroii.  Necessity  will  make  us  all  forsworn  150 

Three   thousand  times   within   this   three   years' 
space ;  ^  cJ^cU^fOiAA 

For  every  man  with  his  aflPecis  is  born, 

Not  by  might  master'd,  but  by  special  grace: 
If  I  break  faith,  this  word  shall  speak  for  me, 
I  am  forsworn  on  '  mere  necessity.' 
So  to  the  laws  at  large  I  write  my  name:  [Suhscrihcs. 

And  he  that  breaks  them  in  the  least  degree 
St^ds  in  attainder  of  eternal  shame: 
""ougg^tions  are  to  other  as  to  me; 
But  I  believe,  although  I  seem  so  loath,  160 

I  am  the  last  that  will  last  keep  his  oath. 
But  is  there  no  quick  recreation  granted? 
King.  Ay,  that  there  is.    Our  court,  you  know,  is  haunted 
With  a  refined  traveller  of  Spain ; 
A  man  in  all  the  world's  new  fashion  planted, 

That  hath  a  mint  of  phrases  in  his  brain ; 
One  whom  the  music  of  his  own  vain  tongue 
Doth  ravish  Hke  enchanting  harmony; 
a£.C£rujtJill'  A  man  or^omplements,  whom  right  and  wrong 
[ujuMci/!>^  Have  chose  as  umpire  of  their  mutiny  :/7  ^       170 

2^<*-  ^^  f^     This  child  of  fancy,  that  Armado  higni^^^^ 
x/Uxj(juay         For  interim  to  our  studies,  shall  relate, 
iSc^CKhi'*         In  high-born  words,  the  worth  of  many  a  knieht 
From  tawny  Spain,  lost  in  the  world's  geoate. 
How  you  deHght,  my  lords,  I  know  not,  I; 
But,  I  protest,  I  love  to  hear  him  he, 
And  I  will  use  him  for  my  mjnstrelsy. 


w. 


"•"^Z/^ 


LOVE'S  LABOUR  'S  LOST  Act  L  Sc.  i. 

Biron.  Armado  is  a  most  illustrious  wight, 

A  man  of  nr^f^^wmas.  fashion's  own  knight. 

Long.  Costard  the  swain  and  he  shall  be  our  sport;    i8o 
And,  so  to  study,  three  years  is  but  short. 

Enter  Dull  zvith  a  letter,  and  Costard. 

Dull.  Which  is  the  Duke's  own  person? 

Biron.  This,  fellow:  what  wouldst? 

Didl.  I  myself  repreli^nd  his  r)wn  person,  for  I  am 

his  grace's  f^rDon3u|^:    muTw^uTd  see  his 

own  person  in  flesh  and  blood. 
Biron.  This  is  he. 
Didl.  Signior   Arme  —  Arme  —  commends   you. 

There's  villany  abroad:   this  letter  will  tell  you 

more.  ^     T    ~^  ^9° 

Cost.  Sir,   the   contempts   thereof   are    as   touching 

me. 
King.  A  letter  from  the  magnificent  Armado. 
Biron.  How  low  soever  the  matter,  I  hope  in  God 

for  high  words. 
Long.  A  high  hope  for  a  low  heaven:    God  grant  us 

patience! 
Biron.  To  hear?   or  forbear  laughing? 
Long.  To  hear  meekly,  sir,  and  to  laugh  moderately; 

or  to  forbear  both.  200 

Biron.  Well,  sir,  be  it  as  the  style  shall  give  us  cause 

to  climb  in  the  merriness. 
Cost.  The  matter  is  to  me,  sir,  as  concerning  Jaque- 

netta.    -The  matter  of  it  is,  I  was  taken,  with       ^ 

the  r^^'fm^^^'^^^-^CitxJPu^  iJaJl  Wu.  &ijLiu.j   /^*^t^ 
Biron.  In  what  manner?  U^Ou  -Suluc^ 

Cost.  In  manner  and  form  following,  sir;  all  those 

29 


Act  I.  Sc.  i.  LOVE'S  LABOUR  'S  LOST 

three:  I  was  seen  with  her  ija  tha,manor-house, 
sitting  with  her  upon  the  lofia,  and  taken  fol- 
lowing her  into  the  park;  which,  put  together,  210 
is  in  manner  and  form  following.  Now,  sir,  for 
the  manner, — it  is  the  manner  of  a  man  to  speak 
to  a  woman:  for  the  form, — in  some  form. 

Biron.  For  the  following,  sir? 

Cost.  As  it  shall  follow  in  my  correction:  and  God 
defend  the  right! 

King.  Will  you  hear  this  letter  with  attention! 

Biron.  As  we  would  hear  an  oracle. 

Cost.  Such  is  the  simplicity  of  man  to  hearken  after 

the  flesh.  220 

King.  [Rcads^  '  Great  deputy,  the  welkin's  vice- 
gerent, and  sole  dominator  of  Navarre,  my 
soul's  earth's  god,  andbody's  fostering  patron.' — 

Cost.  Not  a  word  of  Costard  yet. 

King.    [Reads]     '  So  it  is,' — 

Cost.  It  may  be  so:  but  if  he  say  it  is  so,  he  is,  in 
telling  true,  but  so. 

King.  Peace  ! 

Cost.  Be.  to    me,    and    every   man   that    dares    not 

fight !  230 

King.  No  words! 

Cost.  Of  other  men's  secrets,  I  beseech  you. 

King.  [Reads]  '  So  it  is,  besieged  with  sable-coloured 
melancholy,  I  did  commend  the  black-oppress- 
ing humour  to  the  most  wholesome  physic  of 
thy  health-giving  air;  and,  as  I  am  a  gentleman, 
betook  myself  to  walk.  The  time  when?  About 
the  sixth  hour;  when  beasts  most  graze,  birds 
best  peck,  and  men  sit  down  to  that  nourish- 

30 


LOVE'S  LABOUR  *S  LOST  Act  L  Sc.  i. 

ment  which  is  called  supper;   so   much   for  the  240 

time    when.       Now    for    the    ground    which; 

which,  I  mean,  I  walked  upon:   it  is  ycleped  thy 

park.      Then    for    the    place    where;    where,    I 

mean,  I  did  encounter  that  obscene  and  most  (Z^  <2-ie«Atiioi?cfi 

preposterous  event,  that  draweth  from  my  snow-  •^i.£<fifl«^ce*/) 

white  pen  the   ebon-coloured  ink,  which  here  ^^.^^jg^  _ 

thou  viewest,  beholdest,  surveyest,  or  seest:  but 

to  the  place  where, — it  standeth  north-north-east  ^ 

and  by  east  from  the  west  corner  of  thyxurious-  ^/fp^^ 

knotted  garden :  there  did  I  see  that  low-spirited  2^^^^^^^^ 

swain,  that  base  minnow  of  thy  mirth,' —  ^       -    zi 

Cost.  Me?  /t^^ 

King.    [Reads]      '  that      unlettered      small-knowing 
soul,' — 

Cost.  Me? 

King.    [Reads]     '  that  shallow  vassal,' — 

Cost.  Still  me? 

King.   [Reads]      '  which,     as     I     remember,    hight 
Costard,' — 

Cost.  0,mt\         ^siA^cex'afMS 

King.    [Reads]     '  sorted  and  consorted,  contrary  to  260 
thy  established  proclaimed  edict  and  continent 
canon,  which  with, — O,  with — but  with  this  I 
mss^n  to  say  wherewith,' — 

Cost.  With  a  wench. 

King.  [Reads]  '  with  a  child  of  our  grandmother 
Eve,  a  female;  or,  for  thy  more  sweet  under- 
standing, a  woman.  Him  I,  as  my  ever- 
esteemed  duty  pricks  me  on,  have  sent  to  thee, 
to  receive  the  meed  of  punishment,  by  thy  sweet 
grace's  ofiBcer,  Anthony  Dull;  a  man  of  good  270 
repute,  carriage,  bearing,  and  estimation.' 

31 


Act  I.  Sc.  i.  LOVE'S  LABOUR  'S  LOST 

Dull.  Me,  an  't  shall  please  you:  I  am  Anthony  Dull. 

King.  [Reads]  '  For  Jaquenetta, — so  is  the  weaker 
vessel  called  which  I  apprehended  with  the 
aforesaid  swain, — I  keep  her  as  a  vessel  of  thy 
law's  fury;  and  shall,  at  the  least  of  thy  sweet 
notice,  bring  her  to  trial.  Thine,  in  all  compli- 
ments of  devoted  and  heart-burningheatof  duty. 
Don  Adriano  de  Armado/ 

Biron.  This  is  not  so  well  as  I  looked  for,  but  the 

best  that  ever  I  heard.  280 

King.  Ay,  the  best  for  the  worst.  But,  sirrah,  what 
say  you  to  this? 

Cost.  Sir,  I  confess  the  wench. 

King.  Did  you  hear  the  proclamation? 

Cost.  I  do  confess  much  of  the  hearing  it,  but  little 
of  the  marking  of  it. 

King.  It  was  proclaimed  a  year's  imprisonment,  to 
be  taken  with  a  wench. 

Cost.  I  was  taken  with  none,  sir:   I  was  taken  with  a 

damsel.  290 

King.  Well,  it  was  proclaimed  damsel. 

Cost.  This  was  no  damsel  neither,  sir;  she  was  a 
virgin. 

King.  It  is  so  varied  too;  for  it  was  proclaimed  virgin. 

Cost.  If  it  were,  I  deny  her  virginity:  I  was  taken 
with  a  maid. 

King.  This  maid  will  not  serve  your  turn,  sir. 

Cost.  This  maid  will  serve  my  turn,  sir. 

King.  Sir,  I  will  pronounce  your  sentence :  you  shall 

fast  a  week  with  bran  and  water.  300 

Cost.  I  had  rather  pray  a  month  with  mutton  and 
porridge. 

32 


LOVE'S  LABOUR  *S  LOST  Act  L  Sc.  ii. 

King.  And  Don  Armado  shall  be  your  keeper. 
My  Lord  Biron,  see  him  deliver'd  o'er: 
And  go  we,  lords,  to  put  in  practice  that 
Which  each  to  other  hath  so  strongly  sworn. 

[Exeunt  King,  Longaville,  and.  Dumain. 

Biron.  I  '11  lay  my  head  to  any  good  man's  hat. 

These  oaths  and  laws  will  prove  an  idle  scorn. 
Sirrah,  come  on. 

Cost.  I  suffer  for  the  truth,  sir;   for  true  it  is,  I  was  310 
taken  with  Jaquenetta,  and  Jaquenetta  is  a  true 
girl;    and,  therefore,  welcome  the  sour  cup  of 
prosperity!  Affliction  may  one  day  smile  again; 
and  till  then,  sit  thee  down,  sorrow!  [Exeunt. 

Scene  H, 

The  same. 
Enter  Armado  and  Moth  his  Page. 

Arm.  Boy,  what  sign  is  it  when  a  man  of  great  spirit 

grows  melancholy? 
Moth.  A  great  sign,  sir,  that  he  will  look  sad. 
Arm.  Why,  sadness  is  one  and  the  self-same  thing, 

dear  imp. 
Moth.  No,  no;   O  Lord,  sir,  no. 
Arm.  How  canst  thou  part  sadnes^and  melancholy, 

my  tender  ii^^#^  ^  ^^^'^ 
Moth.  By  a  familiar  demonstration  of  the  working, 

my  tough  senior.  10 

Arm.  Why  tough  senior?   why  tough  senior? 
Moth.  Why  tender  juvenal?   why  tender  juvenal? 
Arm.  I    spoke    it,  tender    juvenal,  as    a    congruent 

33 


Act  I.  Sc.  ii.  LOVE'S  LABOUR  *S  LOST 

epithet©4j    appertaining    to    thy    young    days, 

which  we  may  nominate  tender. 
Moth.  And  I,  tough  senior,  as  an  appertinent  title  to 

your  old  time,  which  we  may  name  tough. 
Arm.  Pretty  and  apt. 
Moth.  How  mean  you,  sir?    I  pretty,  and  my  saying 

apt?  or  I  apt,  and  my  saying  pretty?  20 

Arm.  Thou  pretty,  because  Httle. 
Moth.  Little  pretty  because  little.    Wherefore  apt? 
Ar7n.  And  therefore  apt,  because  quick. 
Moth.  Speak  you  this  in  my  praise,  master? 
Aj'fn.  In  thy  condign  praise. 
Moth.  I  will  praise  an  eel  with  the  same  praise. 
A7'm.  What,  that  an  eel  is  ingenious? 
Moth.  That  an  eel  is  quick. 
Arm.  I  do  say  thou  art  quick  in  answers :  thou  heat- 

est  my  blood. 
Moth.  I  am  answered,  sir. 
Arm.  I  love  not  to  be  crossed. ^_^__'^tJJ^2''2tiXZSu^<cLe 
Moth.   [Aside]  He  speaks  the  mere  contrary roi^iss^s  -^•^ 

love  not  him. 
Arm.  I  have  promised  to  study  three  years  with  the 

Duke. 
Moth.  You  may  do  it  in  an  hour,  sir. 
Arm.  Impossible. 

Moth.  How  many  is  one  thrice  told? 
Aj-m.  I  am  ill  at  reckoning;   it  fitteth  the  spirit  of  a 

tapster.  40 

Moth.  You  are  a  gentleman  and  a  gamester,  sir. 
Arm.  I  confess  both:  they  are  both  the  varnish  of  a 

complete  man. 
Moth.  Then,  I  am  sure,  you  know  how  much  the 

gross  sum  of  deuce-ace  amounts  to. 

34 


LOVE'S  LABOUR  *S  LOST  Act  L  Sc.  ii. 

Arm.  It  doth  amount  to  one  more  than  two. 

Moth.  Which  the  base  vulgar  do  call  three. 

Arm.  True. 

Moth.  Why,  sir,  is  this  such  a  piece  of  study?    Now 

here  is  three  studied,  ere  ye  '11  thrice  wink:   and     50 
how  easy  it  is  to  put  years  to  the  word  three,  and  (T)^ 
study  three  years  in  two  words,  the  dancing 
horse  will  tell  you.  ^      ^ 

Arm.  A  most  fine  figure!  (ipiCLiJ 

Moth.  To  prove  you  a  cipher.  i-cLt'c^ii  u.cu>e.  <2^ 

Arm.  I  will  hereupon  confess  I  am  in  love:  and  as  it  ^^^  /&c 
is  base  for  a  soldier  to  love,  so  am  I  in  love  with  Cf- ^^uLtjSa. 
a  base  wrench.    If  drawing  my  sword  against  the  "^^ 

humour  of  affection  would  deliver  me  from  the 
reprobate  thought  of  it,  I  would  take  Desire  60 
prisoner,  and  ransom  him  to  any  French  courtier 
for  a  new-devised  couTOs|^  I  think  scorn  to 
sigh :  methinks  I  should  outswear  Cupid.  Com- 
fort me,  boy:  what  great  men  have  been  in  love? 

Moth.  Hercules,  master. 

Arm.  Most  sweet  Hercules!  More  authority,  dear 
boy,  name  more;  and,  sweet  my  child,  let  them 
be  men  of  good  repute  and  carriage. 

Moth.  Samson,    master:    he    was  a    man    of    good 

carriage,  great  carriage,  for  he  carried  the  town-     70 
gates  on  his  back  like  a  porter:    and  he  w^as  in 
love. 

Arm.  O,  well-knit  Samson!  strong-jointed  Samson! 
I  do  excel  thee  in  my  rapier  as  much  as  thou 
didst  me  in  carrying  gates.  I  am  in  love  too. 
Who  was  Samson's  love,  my  dear  Moth? 

Moth.  A  woman,  master. 

35 


Act  I.  Sc.  ii.  LOVE'S  LABOUR  *S  LOST 

Arm.  Of  what  complexion? 

Moth.  Of  all  the  four,  or  the  three,  or  the  two,  or 

one  of  the  four.  7W^,c«..,*.«^'  8° 

Arm.  Tell  me  precisely  of  what  complexion.  ^//^  /itt^u'wfc 

ilfo/Zi.  Of  the  sea-water  green,  sir. 

Arm.  Is  that  one  of  the  four  complexions? 

Moth.  As  I  have  read,  sir;  and  the  best  of  them  too. 

Arm.  Green,  indeed,  is  the  colour  of  lovers;   but  to 

have  a  love  of  that  colour,  methinks  Samson  had 

small  reason  for  it.     He  surely  affected  her  for 

her  wit. 
Moth.  It  was  so,  sir;   for  she  had  a  green  wit. 
Arm.  Aly  love  is  most  immaculate  white  and  red.         90 
Moth.  Most  maculate  thoughts,  master,  are  masked 

under  such  colours. 
Arm.  Define,  define,  well-educated  infant. 
Moth.  My  father's   wit,   and   my   mother's   tongue, 

assist  me! 
Arm.  Swejej,  invocation. of  a  pJiilc^   JS^^^  pretty  and 


ath^gllfr""^  ^^'^2>     f^ 
Moth.       If  she  be  made  of  white  and  red, 

Her  faults  will  ne'er  be  known; 
For  blushing  cheeks  by  faults  are  bred,         100 
And  fears  by  pale  white  shown: 
jj         ^Then  if  she  fear,  or  be  to  blame, 
^^^^c,^^     By  this  you  shall  not  know; 
t^  /l^^a^f  Yqx  still  her  cheeks  possess  the  same 

Which^ative,  she  doth  owe. 
A  dangerous  rhyme,  master,  against  the  reason 
of  white  and  red. 
Arm.  Is  there  not  a  ballad,  boy,  of  the  King  and  the 
Beggar? 


LOVE'S  LABOUR  'S  LOST  Act  L  Sc.  ii. 

Moth.  The  world  was  very  guilty  of  such  a  ballad  no 
some  three  ages  since:  but,  I  think,  now  'tis  not 
to  bQ  found;    or,  if  it  were,  it  would  neither 
^    serve  for  the  writing  nor  the  tune. 

Ann.  I  will  have  that  subject  newly  writ  o'er,  that 
i  may  example  my  n i gress lolPrnv  some  mighty 
precedent.     Boy,  I  do  love  that  coj^itiT  ZW^ 
that  I  took  in  the  park  with  the  ratlonai  hm 
Costard:   she  deserves  well. 

Moth.   YAside'X   To  be  whipped;    and  yet   a  better 

love  than  my  master.  120 

Arm.  Sing,  boy;   my  spirit  grows  heavy  in  love. 

Moth.  And    that 's    great    marvel,    loving    a    Hght 
wench. 

Arm.  I  say,  sing. 

Moth.  Forbear. till  this  company  be  past. 

Enter  Dull,  Costard,  and  Jaquenetta. 

Dull.  Sir,   the    Duke's   pleasure   is,    that   you    keep   ^ P^jutf 
Costard  safe:   and  you  must  suffer  him  to  take    {/ 
no  delight  nor  no'ijenanc.e ;   but  a'   must   fast 
three  days  a  week.     For  this  damsel,  I  must 
\     keap  her  at  the  park:    she  is  allowed  for  the  130 
aay-vv6man.     Fare  you  well. 

Arm.  I  do  betray  myself  with  blushing.     Maid. 

]aq.  Man. 

^™.  I  will  vishtbee^atd.ejpdge^^_  Co.^(L.  «f^/ 

laq.  That  s  h^y.  ."^^-^^^^  tu^^.^' eOs^L.' 

Arm.  i  know  where  it  is  situate.  * 

laq.  Lord,  how  wise  you  are! 

Arm.  I  will  tell  thee  wonders. 

laq.  With  that  face? 

Z7 


Act  I.  Sc.  ii.  LOVE'S  LABOUR  *S  LOST 

Arm.  I  love  thee.  140 

Jaq.  So  I  heard  you  say. 

Arm.  And  so,  farewell. 

Jaq.  Fair  weather  after  you! 

Dull.  Come,  Jaquenetta,  away! 

[Exeunt  Dull  and  Jaquenetta, 

Arm.  Villain,  thou  shalt  fast  for  thy  offences  ere 
thou  be  pardoned. 

Cost.  Well,  sir,  I  hope,  when  I  do  it,  I  shall  do  it 
on  a  full  stomach. 

Arm.  Thou  shalt  be  heavily  punished. 

Cost.  I  am  more  bound  to  you  than  your  fellows,   150 
for  they  are  but  lightly  rewarded. 

Arm.  Take  away  this  villain;   shut  him  up. 

Moth.  Come,  you  transgressing  slave;   away! 

Cost.  Let  me  not  be  pent  up,  sir:  I  will  fast,  being 
loose. 

Moth.  No,  sir;  that  were  fast  and  loose:  thou  shalt 
to  prison. 

Cost.  Well,  if  ever  I  do  see  the  merry  days  of 
desolation  that  I  have  seen,  some  shall  see. 

Moth.  What  shall  some  see?  160 

Cost.  Nay,  nothing,  Master  Moth,  but  what  they 
look  upon.  It  is  not  for  prisoners  to  be  too 
silent  in  their  words;  and  therefore  I  will  say 
nothing:  I  thank  God  I  have  as  little  patience 
as  another  man;   and  therefore  I  can  be  quiet. 

ts,^A3cJL  [Exeunt  Moth  and  Costard. 

Arm.  I  do  affeci  the  very  ground,  which  is  base, 
where  her  shoe,  which  is  baser,  guided  by  her 
foot,  which  is  basest,  doth  tread.  I  shall  be  for- 
sworn, which  is  a  great  argument  of  falsehood, 

38 


LOVE'S  LABOUR  'S  LOST 


Act  H.  Sc.  i. 


if  I  love.    And  how  can  that  be  true  love  \vhich 
is  falsely  attempted?    Love  is  a  i^mfi^.^^o\e' 
is   a   devil:   there  is   no  evil   angel  but   Love. 
Yet  was  Samson  so  tempted,  and  he  had  an  ex- 
cellent strength;   yet  was  Solomon  so  s^duc( 
and  he  had  a  very  good  wit.    Cupid's  fiiT^^^nal 
is  too  hard  for  Hercules'  club ;  and  therefore  too  oJ^S^^^^'a 
much  odds  for  a  Spaniard's  rapier.      The  first  r/  /^ 

^nd  second^ause, will  not  serve  my  turn;    the  ^^iVT/  - 
V^tfi€o^0f^^f^&^fnot,  the  duello  he  regards 
not:    his  disgrace  is  to  be  called  boy;    but  his   i8o 
^a^fccf"    S^^^y  is  to  subdue  men.     Adieu,  valour!    rust, 
^  rapier!    be  still,  drum!    for  your^anager_ is  in  •  Aa 

>r)  ^^ig^^jy^love;    yea,    he    loveth.     Assist    me    some    eSj^*"*^ 
fj^yu^  temporal  god  of  rhyme,  for  I  am  sure  I  shall 
turn  sonnet.     Devise,  wit;    write,  pen;    for    I 
am  for  whole  volumes  in  folio.  [Exit. 


ACT   SECOND. 
Scene  L 

The  same. 

Enter  the  Princess  of  France,  Rosaline,  Maria,  Katha- 
rine, Boyet,  Lords,  and  other  Attendants. 

Boyet.  Now,  madam,  summon  up  your  ^i^ai^^  spirits: 
Consider  who  the  king  your  father  sends; 
To  whom  he  sends;    and  what's  his  embassy: 
Yourself,  held  precious  in  the  world's  esteem. 
To  parley  with  the  sole  inheritor 
Of  all  perfections  that  a  man  may  owe, 
Matchless  Navarre;  the  plea  of  no  less  weight 


39 


Act  II.  Sc.  i.  LOVE'S  LABOUR  *S  LOST 

Than  Aquitaine,  a  dowry  for  a  queen. 

Be  now  as  prodigal  of  all  dear  grace, 

As  Nature  was  in  making  graces  dear,  lo 

When  she  did  starve  the  general  world  beside, 

And  prodigally  gave  them  all  to  you. 

Prin.  Good  Lord  Boyet,  my  beauty,  though  but  mean, 
Needs  not  the  painted  flourish  of  your  praise: 
Beauty  is  bought  by  judgement  cA  the  eye, 
Not  utter'd  by  base  sale  of  £^pm|ns  tongues: 
I  am  less  proud  to  hear  you  tell  my  worth 
Than  you  much  willing  to  be  counted  wise 
In  spending  your  wit  in  the  praise  of  mine. 
But  now  to  task  the  tasker;  good  Boyet,  20 

You  are  not  ignorant,  all-telling  fame 
Doth  noise  abroad,  Navarre  hath  made  a  vow, 
Till  painful  study  shall  outwear  three  years, 
No  woman  may  approach  his  silent  court: 
Therefore  to  's  seemeth  it  a  needful  course. 
Before  we  enter  his  forbidden  gates, 

io\'^iis  pleasure;   and  in  that  behalf, 
your  worthiness,  we  single  you 
As  our  best-moving  fair  solicitor. 
Tell  him,  the  daughter  of  the  King  of  France,       30 
On  serious  business  craving  quick  dispatch, 
Importunes  personal  conference  with  his  grace : 
Haste,  signify  so  much;   while  we  attend, 
Like  humble-visaged  suitors,  his  high  will. 

Boyet.  Proud  of  employment,  willingly  I  go. 

Prin.  All  pride  is  willing  pride,  and  yours  is  so. 

[Exit  Boyet. 
Who  are  the  votaries,  my  loving  lords, 
That  are  vow-fellows  with  this  virtuous  duke? 

40 


LOVE'S  LABOUR  'S  LOST  Act  IL  Sc.  i. 

First  Lord.  Lord  Longaville  is  one. 
Prin.  Know  you  the  man? 

Mar.  I  know  him,  madam:    at  a  marriage-feast,         40 
Between  Lord  Perigort  and  the  beauteous  heir 
Of  Jaques  Falconbridge,  solemnized 
In  Normandy,  saw  I  this  Longaville: 
A  man  oL soverdgn  parts  he  is  esteem'd; 
Well  jitM^^Tarts,  glorious  in  arms : 
Nothing  becomes  him  ill  that  he  would  well. 
The  only  soil  of  his  fair  virtue's  gloss, 
If  virtue's  gloss  will  stain  with  any  soil. 
Is  a  sharp  wit  match'd  with  too  blunt  a  will ;  49 

Whose  edge  hath  power  to  cut,  whose  will  still  wills 
It  should  none  spare  that  come  within  his  power. 
Prin.  Some  merry  mocking  lord,  belike;   is 't  so? 
Mar.  They  say  so  most  that  most  his  humours  know. 
Prin.  Such  short-lived  wdts  do  wither  as  they  grow. 

Who  are  the  rest? 
Kath.  The  young  Dumain,  a  well-accomplish'd  youth. 
Of  all  that  virtue  love  for  virtue  loved: 
Most  power  to  do  most  harm,  least  knowing  ill; 
For  he  hath  wit  to  make  an  ill  shape  good, 
And  shape  to  win  grace,  though  he  had  no  wit.     60 
I  saw  him  at  the  Duke  Alengon's  once; 
And  much  top  Httle  of  thSft  good  I  saw 
Is  my  reporf^^ms  great  w^orthiness. 
Ros.  Another  of  these  students  at  that  time 

Was  there  with  him,  if  I  have  heard  a  truth. 
Biron  they  call  him;   but  a  merrier  man. 
Within  the  limit  of  becoming  mirth, 
I  never  spent  an  hour's  talk  withal: 
His  eye  begets  occasion  for  his  wit; 

41 


Act  II.  Sc.  i.  LOVE'S  LABOUR  'S  LOST 

For  every  object  that  the  one  doth  catch,  70 

The  other  turns  to  a  nimth-mo^ng  jest, 

Which  his  fair  tongue,  conce^ire^positor. 

DeHvers  in  such  apt  and  gracious  words, 

That  aged  ears  play  truant  at  his  tales. 

And  younger  hearings  are  quite  ravished; 

So  sweet  and  voluble  is  his  discourse. 

Prin.  God  bless  my  ladies!   are  they  all  in  love, 
That  every  one  her  own  hath  garnished 
With  such  bedecking  ornaments  of  praise? 

First  Lord.  Here  comes  Boyet. 

Re-enter  Boyet. 

Prin.  Now,  what  admittance,  lord?    80 

Boyet.  Navarre  had  noticeof  yam-  fair  approach; 
And  he  and  his  competn^s  m  oath 
Were  all  ^"o^ss^ofo  meet  you,  gentle  lady. 
Before  I  came.     Marry,  thus  much  I  have  learnt: 
He  rather  means  to  lodge  you  in  the  field. 
Like  one  that  comes  here  to  besiege  his  court, 
Than  seek  a  dispensation  for  hispay 
To  let  you  enter  his  impe^^qnoui 
Here  comes  Navarre. 

Enter  King,  Longaville,  Dumain,  Biron,  and  Attendants. 

King.  Fair  princess,  welcome  to  the  court  of  Na- 
varre. 90 

Prin.  '  Fair  '  I  give  you  back  again;  and  '  welcome  ' 
I  have  not  yet:  the  roof  of  this  court  is  too  high 
to  be  yours;  and  welcome  to  the  wide  fields  too 
base  to  be  mine. 

King.  You  shall  be  welcome,  madam,  to  my  court. 

P7'in.  I  will  be  welcome,  then:   conduct  me  thither. 

42 


LOVE'S  LABOUR  *S  LOST  Act  IL  Sc.  i. 

King.  Hear  me,  dear  lady;  I  have  sworn  an  oath. 
Prin.  Our  Lady  help  my  lord!  he '11  be  forsworn. 
King.  Not  for  the  world,  fair  madam,  by  my  will.         99 
Prin.  Why,  will  shall  break  it;   will,  and  nothing  else. 
King.  Your  ladyship  is  ignorant  what  it  is. 
Prin.  Wo^  my  lord  so,  his  ignorance  were  wise, 

Wn^enowms  knowledge  must  prove  ignorance. 

I  hear  your  grace  hath  sworn  out  house-keeping: 

'Tis  deadly  sin  to  keep  that  oath,  my  lord, 

And  sin  to  break  it. 

But  pardon  me,  I  am  too  sudden-bold: 

To  teach  a  teacher  ill  beseemeth  me. 

Vouchsafe  to  read  the  purpose  of  my  coming, 

And  suddenly  reson^me  in  my  suit.  1 10 

King.  Madam,  I  will,  if  suddenly  I  may. 
Prin.  You  will  the  sooner,  that  I  were  away; 

For  you  '11  prove  perjured,  if  you  make  me  stay. 
Biron.  Did  not  I  dance  with  you  in  Brabant  once? 
Ros.  Did  I  not  dance  with  you  in  Brabant  once? 
Biron.  I  know  you  did. 

Ros.  How  needless  was  it,  then,  to  ask  the  question! 
Biron.  You^must  not  be  so  quick. 

Ros.  'Tis  'loi^jOF  you  that  spur  me  with  such  questions. 
Biron.  Your  wit 's  too  hot,  it  speeds  too  fast,  'twill  tire. 
Ros.  Not  till  it  leave  the  rider  in  the  mire.  121 

Biron.  What  time  o'  day? 
Ros.  The  hour  that  fools  should  ask. 
Biron.  Now  fair  befall  your  mask! 
Ros.  Fair  fall  the  face  it  covers ! 
Biron.  And  send  you  many  lovers! 
Ros.  Amen,  so  you  be  none. 
Biron.  Nay,  then  will  I  be  gone. 

43 


Act  II.  Sc.  i.  LOVE'S  LABOUR 'S  LOST 

King.  Madam,  your  father  here  doth  intimate 

The  payment  of  a  hundred  thousand  crowns;         130 

Being  but  the  one  half  of  an  entire  sum 

Disbursed  by  my  father  in  his  wars. 

But  say  that  he  or  we,  as  neither  have. 

Received  that  sum,  yet  there  remains  unpaid 

A  hundred  thousand  more;   in  surety  of  the  which,' 

One  part  of  Aquitaine  is  bound  to  us. 

Although  not  valued  to  the  money's  worth. 

If,  then,  the  king  your  father  will  restore 

But  that  one  half  which  is  unsatisfied, 

We  will  give  up  our  right  in  Aquitaine,  140 

And  hold  fair  friendship  with  his  majesty. 

But  that,  it  seems,  he  little  purposeth, 

For  here  he  doth  demand  to  have  repaid 

A  hundred  thousand  crowns;   and  not  demands, 

On  payment  of  a  hundred  thousand  crowns, 

To  have  his  title  live  in  Aqiijtaine;  ^ 

Which  we  much  rather  had  o^fert  withal. 

And  have  the  money  %,our  father  lent, 

Than  Aquitaine  so  g^oHjas  it  is. 

Dear  princess,  were  not  his  requests  so  far  150 

From  reason's  yielding,  your  fair  self  should  make 

A  yielding,  'gainst  some  reason,  in  my  breast. 

And  go  well  satisfied  to  France  again. 

Prill.  You  do  the  king  my  father  too  much  wrong, 
And  wrong  the  reputation  of  your  name, 
In  so  uriseeming  to  confess  receipt 
Of  that  which  hath  so  faithfully  been  paid. 

King.  I  do  protest  I  never  heard  of  it; 
And  if  you  prove  it,  I  '11  repay  it  back, 
Or  yield  up  Aquitaine. 

44 


LOVE'S  LABOUR  'S  LOST  Act  IL  Sc.  i. 

Prin.  We  arrest  your  word.  i6o 

Boyet,  you  can  produce  acquittances 
For  such  a  sum  from  special  officers 
Of  Charles  his  father. 

King.  Satisfy  me  so. 

Boyet.  So  please  your  grace,  the  packet  is  not  come, 
Where  that  and  other  specialties  are  bound: 
To-morrow  you  shall  have  a  sight  of  them. 

King.  It  shall  suffice  me:  at  which  interview 
All  liberal  reason  I  will  yield  unto. 
Meantime  receive  such  welcome  at  my  hand 
As  honour,  without  breach  of  honour,  may  170 

Make  tender  of  to  thy  true  w^orthiness: 
You  may  not  come,  fair  princess,  in  my  gates; 
But  here  without  you  shall  be  so  received 
As  you  shall  deem  yourself  lodged  in  my  heart. 
Though  so  denied  fair  harbour  in  my  house. 
Your  own  good  thoughts  excuse  me,  and  farewell: 
To-morrow  shall  we  visit  you  again. 

Prin.  Sweet  health  and  fair  desires  consort  your  grace ! 

King.  Thy  own  wish  wish  I  thee  in  every  place!      [Exit. 

Biron.  Lady,  I  will  commend  you  to  mine  own  heart.  180 

Ros.  Pray  you,  do  my  commendations;   I  would  be 
glad  to  see  it. 

Biron.  I  would  you  heard  it  groan. 

Ros.  Is  the  fool  sick? 

Biron.  Sick  at  the  heart. 

Ros.  Alack,  let  it  blood. 

Biron.  Would  that  do  it  good? 

Ros.  My  physic  says  '  ay.' 

Biron.  Will  you  prick  't  with  your  eye? 

Ros.  No  ^piiit,  with  my  knife.  190 

Z^^"*-      V        45 


Act  II.  Sc.  i.  LOVE'S  LABOUR  *S  LOST 

Biron.  Now,  God  save  thy  life! 
Ros.  And  yours  from  long  living! 

Biron.  I  cannot  stay  thanksgiving.  [Retiring. 

Dum.  Sir,  I  pray  you,  a  word:  what  lady  is  that  same? 
Boyet.  The  heir  of  Alenqon,  Katharine  her  name. 
Dtim.  A  gallant  lady.     Monsieur,  fare  you  well.     [Exit. 
Long.  I  beseech  you  a  word:  what  is  she  in  the  white? 
Boyet.  A  woman  sometimes,  an  you  saw  her  in  the  light. 
Long.  Perchance  light  in  the  light.     I  desire  her  name. 
Boyet.  She  hath  but  one  for  herself,  to  desire  that  were 
a  shame.  200 

Long.  Pray  you,  sir,  whose  daughter? 
Boyet.  Her  mother's  I  have  heard. 
Long.  God's  blessing  on  your  beard. 
Boyet.  Good  sir,  be  not  offended. 

She  is  an  heir  of  Falconbridge. 
Long.  Nay,  my  choler  is  ended. 

She  is  a  most  sweet  lady. 
Boyet.  Not  unlike,  sir,  that  may  be.  [Exit  Long. 

Biron.  What 's  her  name  in  the  cap? 
Boyet.  Rosaline,  by  good  hap.  210 

Biron.  Is  she  wedded  or  no? 
Boyet.  To  her  will,  sir,  or  so. 
Biron.  You  are  welcome,  sir:  adieu. 
Boyet.  Farewell  to  me,  sir,  and  welcome  to  you. 

[Exit  Biron. 
Mar.  That  last  is  Biron  the  merry  mad-cap  lord: 

Not  a  word  with  him  but  a  jest. 
Boyet.  And  every  jest  but  a  word. 

Prin.  It  was  well  done  of  you  to  take  him  at  his  word. 
Boyet.  I  was  as  willing  to  grapple  as  he  was  to  board. 
Mar.  Two  hot  sheeps,  marry. 

46 


LOVE'S  LABOUR  'S  LOST  Act  H.  Sc.  i. 

Boyef,  And  wherefore  not  ships?  219 

No  sheep,  sweet  lamb,  unless  we  feed  on  your  lips. 

Mar.  You  sheep,  and  I  a  pasture:    shall  that  finish  the 

jest?  (S)f^o^ 

Boyet.  So  you  grant  pasture  for  me.    [Oifering  to  kiss  her.^ff?^^^ 

Mar.  /^  Nc^so,  gentle  beast  :^^^^^:^^ 

My  lips  are  no  common,  though^^v^raithey  be.      I^J^*x^^>U 

Boyet.  Belonging  to  whom?  A^^^ 

Mar.  To  mv  fortunes  and  me.  ^  ,    a>^..^. 

Prin.  Good  wits  will  be  jangling;  but,  gentles,  agree  :w^  a  Core, 

This  civil  war  of  wits  were  much  better  used        CO^^  oj 

On  Navarre  and  his  book-men;  for  here  'tis  abused,  u^^l^^ 

Boyet.  If  my  observation,  which  very  seldom  lies,       "^^^^  Mcc^ 

By  the  heart's  still  rhetoric  disclosed  with  eyes,  ^iCa/jz^ccjL 

Deceive  me  not  now,  Navarre  is  infected.         /A30   —7^^-" 

Prin.  With  what? 

Boyet.  With  that  which  we  lovers  entitle  affected.     ^/<-^^^,^^ 
Prin.  Your  reason?  a^M-^^^^^y- 

Boyet.  Why,  all  his  behaviours  did  make  their  retire  i^j^-LzjU-IJ 
To  the  court  of  his  eye,  peeping  thorough  desire:  ^  /(jj^ 
His  heart,  like  an  agate,  with  your  print  impress'd,  ^v^ot 
Proud  with  his  form,  in  his  eye  pride  express'd:  0  -/^ 

His  tongue,  all  impatient  to  speak  and  not  see, 
Did  stumble  with  haste  in  his  eyesight  to  be; 
All  senses  to  that  sense  did  make  their  repair,     240 
To  feel  only  looking  on  fairest  of  fair: 
Methought  all  his  senses  were  lock'd  in  his  eye. 
As  jewels  in  crystal  for  some  prince  to  buy; 
Who,  tendering  their  own  worth  from  where  they 

Did  ^St^ou  to  buy  them,  along  as  you  pass'd: 
His  face's  own  margent  _did  quote  such  amazes, 
That  all  eyes  saw  his  eyes  enchanted  with  gazes 

47 


Act  III.  Sc.  i.  LOVE'S  LABOUR  'S  LOST 

I  '11  give  you  Aquitaine,  and  all  that  is  his, 
An  yow  give  him  for  my  sake  but-pne  loving  kiss. 
^    Prin.  Come  to  our  pavilion:    Boyet  is  disposed.  250 

ix,(l£uct^oyet.  But  to  speak  that  in  words  which  his  eye  hath 
7^  A-Oc^jujod^        disclosed. 

uauJl/ut  I  only  have  made  a  mouth  of  his  eye, 

Cn^AiA  By  adding  a  tongue  which  I  know  will  not  lie. 

a       Ros.  Thou   art  an  old   love-monger,   and  speakest   skil- 
V  fully. 

Mar.  He  is  Cupid's  grandfather,  and  learns  news  of  him. 
Ros.  Then  was  Venus  like  her  mother;   for  her  father  is 

but  grim. 
Boyet.  Do  you  hear,  my  mad  wenches? 
Mar.  No. 

Boyet.  What  then,  do  you  see? 

Ros.  Ay,  our  way  to  be  gone. 
Boyet,  You  are  too  hard  for  me. 

[Exeunt. 

ACT  THIRD. 
Scene  I. 

The  same. 
Enter  Armada  and  Moth. 


Ay^^Arm.  Warble,  child;    make  passionate  my  sense  of 

\P^  ^  ^Arm.  Sweet  air!    Go,  fendernesf  of  years;  take  this 
k  ^vJ^      ke^,  give  enlargement  to  the  swain,  bring  him 
[Q^mKz^aither :  I  must  employ  him  in  a  letter 
to  my  love. 
Moth^.  Master,  will  you  win  your  love  with  a  French 
rawl? 

48 


LOVE'S  LABOUR  'S  LOST  Act  IIL  Sc.  i. 

Arm.  How  meanest  thou?  brawling  in  French?  lo 

Moth.  No,  my  complete  master:    but  to  jig  off  a^a 
tune  at  the  tongue's  end.^anarv  to  it  with  your^ 
feet,  humour  it  with  turningupyour  eyeHds,sigh  ,____ 
a  note  and  sing  a  note,  sometime  through  th^d^  JHuxj^e^iL 
throat,  as  if  you  swallowed  love  with  singing  ^  f)  -^ 

love,  sometime  through  the  nose,  as  if^^u  snuffed  ^f(^  J 
up  love  by  smelling  love;  with  yourliat  pent-  ^y^  60u^ 
house-Hke  o'er  th^hop  of  your  eyes;  with  your  ^^^zz^;ff;Z-^ 
\^AM/>ff^^^^Xtti'i  crossed  oirrour  thin-belly  doublet,  Hke  ^^^^c^T^ 
j^^^^e/x^^ 'tabbit  on  a  spit;  or  your  hands  in  your  pocket,  20  ^^h 
fJ^AjuU^^  lik^  ^  ^^^  after  the  old  painting;  and  keep  not  n^^-f 
f^/^  too   long  in   one   tune,  but  a   snip   and   away.  A^^^*^ 

^^  These  are   complements,   these   are   humours ;  ^^(^5"^ 

these  betray  nice  wenches,  that  would  be  be-     ./? 
trayed  without  these;    and  make  them  men  of    TT^V^ 
note — do  you  note  me? — that  most  are  affected  ^^q'^ 
to  these. 
Arm.  How  hast  thou  purchased  this  experience? 
Moth.  By  my  penny  of  observation 


^'''"'  ^"'^^^^521^^^^^**^"^^ 


XaJ 


Moth.  '  Thg1iob'^\-^^r^  IS.. forgot'  UcOXAi^  (^j/xma.  3i 

Arm.  Callest  thou  my  love  '  hobby-horse  '?  %ju/  ^'cx^^tji^  j^uu 

Moth.  No,  master;  the  hobby-horse  is  but  acolt,arHiy^ 

your  love  perhaps  a  hackney.      But  have  you   /TT^^ 
forgot  your  love?  fvc^  j^ea. 

Arm.  Almost  I  had.  /j^ccUl^ 

Moth.  Negligent  student!  learn  her  by  heart.  JfyrjooLk) 

Arm.  By  heart  and  in  heart,  boy.  — jy^ — - 

Moth.  And  out  of  heart,  master:    all  those  three  I 

will  prove. 
Arm.  What  wilt  thou  prove?  40 

Moth.  A  man,  if  I  live;    and  this,  by,  in,  and  with- 

49 


Act  III.  Sc.  i.  LOVE'S  LABOUR  *S  LOST 

out,  upon  the  instant:  by  heart  you  love  her, 
because  your  heart  cannot  come  by  her;  in 
heart  you  love  her,  because  your  heart  is  in  love 
with  her;  and  out  of  heart  you  love  her,  being 
out  of  heart  that  you  cannot  enjoy  her. 

Arm.  I  am  all  these  three. 

Moth.  And  three  times  as  much  more,  and  yet  noth- 
ing at  all. 

Arm.  Fetch  hither  the  swain:    he  must  carry  me  a     50 
letter. 

Moth.  A  message  well  sympathized;    a  horse  to  be 
ambassador  for  an  ass. 

Arm.  Ha!  ha!   what  sayest  thou? 

Moth.  Marry,  sir,  you  must  send  the  ass  upon  the 
horse,  for  he  is  very  slow-gaited.     But  I  go. 

Arm.  The  way  is  but  short:   away! 

Moth.  As  swift  as  lead,  sir. 

A7in.  The  meaning,  pretty  ingenious? 

Is  not  lead  a  metal  heavy,  dull,  and  slow?  60 

Moth.  Minime,  honest  master;    or  rather,  master,  no. 

Arui.  I  say  lead  is  slow. 

Moth.  You  are  too  swift,  sir,  to  say  so: 

Is  that  lead  slow  which  is  fired  from  a  gun? 

Arm.  Sweet  smoke  of  rhetoric! 

He  reputes  me  a  cannon ;   and  the  bullet,  that 's  he : 
I  shoot  thee  at  the  swain. 

Moth.  Thump,  theru, and  JLfle^.     [Exit. 

Arm.  A  most  ^ute  jiwen^;  ^Tame  and  tree  of  grace! 
By  thy  f|£f2^,')lweerwelkin,   I   must  sigh  in  thy 

face: 
Most  rude  melancholy,  valour  gives  thee  place. 
My  herald  is  return'd.  70 

50 


LOVE'S  LABOUR  'S  LOST  Act  IIL  Sc.  i. 

Re-enter  Moth  zvith  Costard. 

Moth.  A  wonder,  master !    here  's  a  Costard  broken  in  a 

shin. 
Aj^m.  Some  enigma,  some  riddle:  come,  thy  .I'envoy  begin. 
Cost.  jt\o  egma,  no  riddle,  no  1  envoy  :  no  saUveinme^-^^g"  .        / 
mafflsir:    O,  sir,  plantain,  a  plain  plantain!    no^^^^^^^ 
I'envoy,  no  I'envoy;  no  salve,  sir,  but  a  plantain! 
Arm.  By  virtue,  thou  enforcest  laughter;    thy  silly 
thought  my  spleen;    the  heaving  of  my  lungs 
provokes  me  to  ridiculous  smiling.     O,  pardon 
me,  my  stars!   Doth  the  inconsiderate  take  salve 
for  I'envoy,  and  the  word  I'envoy  for  a  salve?         8o 
Moth.  Do  the  wise  think  them  other?,    is  not  I'envoy  a 

salve? 
Arm.  No,  page:    it  is  an  epilogue  or  discourse,  to  make 
plain 
Some  obscure  precedence  that  hath  tofore  been  sain. 
I  will  example  it : 

The  fox,  the  ape,  and  the  humble-bee, 
Were  still  at  odds,  being  but  three. 
There's  the  moral.     Now  the  I'envoy. 
Moth.  I  will  add  the  I'envoy.     Say  the  moral  again. 
Arm.         The  fox,  the  ape,  and  the  humble-bee. 

Were  still  at  odds,  being  but  three.  90 

Moth.         Until  the  goose  came  out  of  door. 
And  stay'd  the  odds  by  adding  four. 
Now  will  I  begin  your  moral,  and  do  you  follow 
with  my  I'envoy. 

The  fox,  the  ape,  and  the  humble-bee, 
Were  still  at  odds,  being  but  three. 
Arm.         Until  the  goose  came  out  of  door, 
Staying  the  odds  by  adding  four. 

51 


Act  III.  Sc.  i.  LOVE'S  LABOUR  'S  LOST 

Moth.  A  good  I'envoy,  ending  in  the  goose :    would 
JZ^c^cx^^  i^     YOU  desire  more;?  lOO 

iCoic^^c^i^ The  bov  hatrrsold  him  a  bargain,  a  goose,  that 's 

'jt.iU<Jtiir^<>'       flat.' 

'^^  ^  ^%*   Sir,  your  pennyworth  is  good,  an  your  goose  be  fat. 
t- ^^'^v^^Vo  sell  a  bargain  well  is  as  cunning  as  fast  and  loose: 
iMSuLiJU'  Let  me  see ;  a  fat  I'envoy ;  ay,  that 's  a  fat  goose. 
'yf^^^^rm.  Come  hither,  come  hither.     How  did  this  argument 
(,y  begin? 

Moth.  By  saying  that  a  Costard  was  broken  in  a  shin. 
Then  call'd  you  for  the  I'envoy. 
^     /7  ^Cost.  True,  and  I  for  a  plantain:   thus  came  your  argu- 
^^^j^f  ment  in;  ^^ 

^^^^"^^"^      Then  the  boy's  fat  renvoy/me  goose  tliatyoubouE:ht; 
'^^^^^^^  And  hp  ended  the  market.  IIO 

n   Arm.  But  tell  me:  how  was  there  a  Costard  broken 
m  a  shm? 
Moth.  I  will  tell  you  sensibly. 

Cost.  Thou  hast  no  feeling  of  it,  Moth:   I  will  speak 
that  I'envoy : 

I  Costard,  running  out,  that  was  safely  within, 
Fell  over  the  threshold,  and  broke  my  shin. 
Arm.  We  will  talk  no  more  of  this  matter. 
Cost.  Till  there  be  more  matter  in  the  shin. 
Arm.  Sirrah  Costard,  I  will  enfranchise  thee.  120 

Cost.  O,  marry  me  to  one  Frances:    I  smell  some 

I'envoy,  some  goose,  in  this. 
Arm.  By  my  sweet  soul,   I   mean   setting  thee   at 
liberty,  enfreedoming   thy    person:    thou    wert 
immured,  restrained,  captivated,  bound. 
Cost.  True,  true;  and  now  you  will  be  my  purgation, 

and  let  me  loose. 
Arm,  I  give  thee  thy  liberty,  set  thee  from  durance; 

52 


LOVE'S  LABOUR'S  LOST  Act  IH.  Sc.  i. 

and,  in  lien  thereof^irap^e^on  thee  nothing 
but  this:    bear  this  sigmncant   [giz'ing  a  letter]    130 
to  the  country  maid  Jaquenetta^    there   is   re- 
muneration;  for  the  best^^^^  mine  honour 
is  rewarding  my  dependerffsT'^'Ioth,  follow.      [Exit, 
Moth.  Like  the  sequel,  I.    Signior  Costard,  adieu.  /XjUjumjcS 
Cost.  My  sweet  ounce  of  man's  flesh!   my  incojgv  Jew! 

{Exit  Moth, 
Now  will  I  look  to  his  remuneration.  Re- 
muneration !  O,  that 's  the  Latin  word  for 
three  farthings  :  three  farthings— ^remuneration. 
—'What's  the  price  of  this  ^^l"'— '  One 
penny.' — *  No,  I  '11  give  you  a  remuneration : '  140 
why,  it  carries  it.  Remuneration !  why,  it  is  a 
fairer  name  than  French  crown.  I  will  never 
buy  and  sell  out  of  this  word. 

Enter  Biron. 

Biron.  O,  my  good  knave  Costard!   exceedingly  well 

met. 
Cost.  Pray  you,  sir,  how  much  carnation  ribbon  may 

a  man  buy  for  a  remuneration? 
Biron.  What  is  a  remuneration? 
Cost.  Marry,  sir,  halfpenny  farthing. 

Biron.  Why,  then,  three-farthing  worth  of  silk.  150 

Cost.  I  thank  your  worship:   God  be  wi' you! 
Biron.  Stay,  slave;   I  must  employ  thee: 

As  thou  wilt  win  my  favour,  good  my  knave, 

Do  one  thing  for  me  that  I  shall  entreat. 
Cost,  When  would  you  have  it  done,  sir? 
Biron.  This  afternoon. 
Cost.  Well,  I  will  do  it,  sir;  fare  you  well. 
Biron.  Thou  knowest  not  what  it  is. 

53 


Act  m.  Sc.  i.  LOVE'S  LABOUR 'S  LOST 

Cost.  I  shall  know,  sir,  when  I  have  done  it. 
Biron.  Why,  villain,  thou  must  know  first.  i6o 

Cost.  I  will  come  to  your  worship  to-morrow  morn- 
ing. 
Biron.  It  must  be  done  this  afternoon.    Hark,  slave, 
it  is  but  this: 
A/ ^       ^     The  princess  comes  to  hunt  here  in  the  park, 
^G^cft^o     p^^^  -j^  j^gj.  train  there  is  a  gentle  lady; 
^^cce^a. ^       When  tongues  speak  sweetly,  then  they  name  her 

5Jf^^^^        And  Rosaline  they  call  her:   ask  for  her; 
'-^  '  And  to  her  white  hand  see  thou  do  commend 

This  seal'd-up  counsel.    There  's  thy  guerdon  ;   go. 

\Giving  him  a  shilling, 
^.yy  ^     Cost.  Gardon,  O  sweet  gardon !    better  than  remu-  170 
^rzzt^^       neration,  a  'leven-pence  farthing  better  •    most  -  jp 
^yc£e^       sweet    gardon!     I    will    do    it,    sir,    m    pfinfr^^ 

Gardon!     Remuneration!  [EM. 

Biron.  And  I,  forsooth,  in  love!     I,  that  have  been 

love's  whip ;  (9/2 jo^  '^  ouj^o.^ 

fiiy    OB^  A^mSc,  nay,  a  night-watch  constable; 
]S^j^         A  domineering:^^^^^5^W^^boY^ 
^ y^  Than^ivhom  no  mortal  so  iT^gm^^StT 

This Svimpled.  whining,  purBTmSTway ward  boy ; 
A        This  senior-junior,  giant-dwarf,  Dan  Cupid;         181 
(Vcf  M.         Regent  of  love-rhymes,  lord  of  folded  arms, 
^X/JySOUuuL-  ^^^  anointed  sovereign  of  sighs  and  groans, 
.^^        Liege  of  all  loiterers  and  malcontents, 


Dread  prince  oK^ackets,  king  ofxfodpieces, 
jzitojuio^^^^  imperato  and  great  general 


'''"'  j9'Pt^  trotting^g^itors :— O  my  little  heart!— 
^'^  r   ^^^  I  to  be  a^^fe^poral  of  his  field. 
tAitU-^p^    And  wear  his  colours  like  a  tumbler's  hoop! 


LOVE'S  LABOUR 'S  LOST  Act  IV.  Sc.  i. 

What!   I  love!   I  sue!   I  seek  a  wife!  190 

A  woman,  that  is  Hke  a  German  clock,  .-        a  ^  '' 

Still  a-repairing,  ever  out  of  frftr^r^"^      (^ unQJodf'^  - 
And  never  going  aright,  being  a  watch,  C(/l4uJ^Q  . 

But  being  watch'd  that  it  may  still  go  right!  - — " 

Nay,  to  be  perjured,  which  is  worst  of  all; 
Anij  among  three,  to  love  the  worst  of  all; 
A^^iitelv  wanton  with  a  velvet  brow. 
With  two  pitch-balls  stuck  in  her  face  for  eyes ; 
Ay,  and,  by  heaven,  one  that  will  do  the  deed, 
Though  Argus  were  her  eunuch  and  her  guard:  200 
And  I  to  sigh  for  her!  to  watch  for  her!    (7) ceTUja^ooixxA- 
To  pray  for  her !    Go  to ;  it  is  a  plague   i^e^^Lc'^fU^c/Zi/  nH 
That  Cupid  will  impose  for  my  neglect   /[jUtJj^Ui/ ^(AcJf  - 
Of  his  almighty  dreadful  little  might.  — ^  - 

Well,  I  will  love,  write,  sigh,  pray,  sue  and  groan : 
Some  men  must  love  my  lady,  and  some  Toan.  \Exit, 


ACT  FOURTH. 
Scene  L 

The  same. 

Enter  the  Princess,  and  her  train,  a  Forester,  Boyet,  Rosa- 
line, Maria,  and  Katharine. 

Prin.  Was  that  the  k*mg,  that  spurr'd  his  horse  so  hard 
Against  the  steep  uprising  of  the  hill? 

Boyet.  I  know  not;  but  I  think  it  was  not  he. 

Prin.  Whoe'er  a'  was,  a'  showed  a  mounting  mind. 
Well,  lords,  to-day  we  shall  have  our  dispatch: 
On  Saturday  we  will  return  to  France. 
Then,  forester,  my  friend,  where  is  the  bush 

55 


Act  IV.  Sc.  i.  LOVE'S  LABOUR 'S  LOST 

That  we  must  stand  and  play  the  murderer  in? 

For.  Hereby,  upon  the  edge  of  yonder  coppice; 

A  stand  where  you  may  make  the  fairest  shoot.     lo 

Prin.  I  thank  my  beauty,  I  am  fair  that  shoot. 

And  thereupon  thou  speak'st  the  fairest  shoot. 

For.  Pardon  me,  madam,  for  I  meant  not  so. 

Prin.  What,  what?   first  praise  me,  and  again  say  no? 
O  short-hved  pride!    Not  fair?  alack  for  woe! 

For.  Yes,  madam,  fair. 

Prin.  Nay,  never  paint  me  now: 

Where  fair  is  not,  praise  cannot  mend  the  brow. 
Here,  good  my  glass,  take  this  for  telling  true: 
Fair  payment  for  foul  words  is  more  than  due. 

For.  Nothing  but  fair  is  that  which  you  inherit.  20 

Prin.  See,  see,  my  beauty  will  be  saved  by  merit! 
O  heresy  in  fair,  fit  for  these  days! 
A  giving  hand,  though  foul,  shall  have  fair  praise. 
But  come,  the  bow:   now  mercy  goes  to  kill. 
And  shooting  well  is  then  accounted  ill. 
Thus  will  I  save  my  credit  in  the  shoot: 
Not  wounding,  pity  would  not  let  me  do  't; 
If  wounding,  then  it  was  to  show  my  skill. 
That  more  for  praise  than  purpose  meant  to  kill. 
And,  out  of  question,  so  it  is  sometimes,  30 

Glory  grows  guilty  of  detested  crimes. 
When,  for  fame's  sake,  for  prafse,  an  outward  part, 
We  bend  to  that  the  working  of  the  heart; 
As  I  for  praise  alone  now  seek  to  spill 
The  poor  deer's  blood,  that  my  heart  means  no  ill. 

Boyet.  Do  not  curst  wives  hold  that  self-sovereignty 
Only  for  praise  sake,  when  they  strive  to  be 
Lords  o'er  their  lords  ? 

56 


LOVE'S  LABOUR  *S  LOST  Act  IV.  Sc.  i. 

Prill.  Only  for  praise:   and  praise  we  may  afford 

To  any  lady  that  subdues  a  lord.  40 

Boyet.  Here  comes  a  member  of  the  commonwealth. 

Enter  Costard. 

Cost.  God  dig-you-den  all!    Pray  you,  which  is  the 

head  lady? 
Prin.  Thou  shalt  know  her,  fellow,  by  the  rest  that 

have  no  heads. 
Cost.  Which  is  the  greatest  lady,  the  highest? 
Prin.  The  thickest  and  the  tallest. 
Cost.  The  thickest  and  the  tallest!  it  is  so;  truth  is  truth. 

An  your  waist,  mistress,  were  as  slender  as  my  wit, 

One  o'  these  maids'  girdles  for  your  waist  should  be 
fit.  _      50 

Are  not  you  the  chief  woman?  you  are  the  thickest 
here. 
Prin.  What 's  your  will,  sir  ?   what 's  your  will  ? 
Cost.  I  have  a  letter  from  Monsieur  Biron  to  one  Lady 

Rosaline. 
Prin.  O,  thy  letter,   thy  letter !    he  's   a  good  friend  of 
mine: 

Stand  aside,  good  bearer.     Boyet,  you  can  carve; 

Break  up  this  capon. 
Boyet.  I  am  bound  to  serve. 

This  letter  is  mistook,  it  importeth  none  here; 

It  is  writ  to  Jaquenetta. 
Prin.  We  will  read  it,  I  swear. 

Break  the  neck  of  the  wax,  and  every  one  give  ear. 
Boyet.    [Reads]  By  heaven,  that  thou  art  fair,  is  most     60 

infallible ;   true,  that  thou  art  beauteous  ;    truth 

itself,  that  thou  art  lovely.     More  fairer  than 

fair,  beautiful  than  beauteous,  truer  than  truth 

57 


Act  IV.  Sc.  i.  LOVE'S  LABOUR 'S  LOST 

itself,  have  commiseration  on  thy  heroical  vas- 
sal! The  magnanimous  and  most  illustrate  king 
Cophetua  set  eye  upon  the  pernicious  and  indubi- 
tate  beggar  Zenelophon ;  and  he  it  was  that  might 
rightly  say,  Veni,  vidi,  vici;  v^hich  to  anno- 
thanize  in  the  vulgar, — O  base  and  obscure 
vulgar! — videlicet,  He  came,  saw,  and  over-  70 
came:  he  came,  one;  saw,  two;  overcame,  three. 
Who  came?  the  king:  why  did  he  come?  to  see: 
why  did  he  see  ?  to  overcome  :  to  whom  came  he  ? 
to  the  beggar:  what  saw  he?  the  beggar:  who 
overcame  he?  the  beggar.  The  concflusion  is 
victory  :  on  whose  side  ?  the  king's.  The  captive 
is  enriched:  on  whose  side?  the  beggar's.  The 
catastrophe  is  a  nuptial:  on  whose  side?  the 
king's :  no,  on  both  in  one,  or  one  in  both.  I  am 
the  king;  for  so  stands  the  comparison:  thou  the  80 
beggar:  for  so  witnesset4i  thy  lowdiness.  Shall 
I  command  thy  love?  I  may:  shall  I  enforce  thy 
love?  I  could:  shall  I  entreat  thy  love?  I  will. 
What  shalt  thou  exchange  for  rags?  robes;  for 
titles  ?  titles ;  for  thyself  ?  me.  Thus,  expecting 
thy  reply,  profane  my  lips  on  thy  foot,  my  eyes 
on  thy  picture,  and  my  heart  on  thy  every  part. 
Thine,  in  the  dearest  design  of  industry, 

Don  Adrian©  de  Armado. 
Thus  dost  thou  hear  the  Nemean  lion  roar  90 

'Gainst  thee,  thou  lamb,  that  standest  as  his  prey. 
Submissive  fall  his  princely  feet  before, 

And  he  from  forage  will  incline  to  play: 
But  if  thou  strive,  poor  soul,  what  art  thou  then? 
Food  for  his  rage,  repasture  for  his  den. 

58 


LOVE'S  LABOUR  *S  LOST  Act  IV.  Sc.  i. 

Prin.  What  plume  of  feathers  is  he  that  indited  this  let- 
ter? 

What  vane?    what  weathercock?    did  you  ever  hear 
better  ? 
Boyet.  I  am  much  deceived  but  I  remember  the  style. 
Prin.  Else  your  memory  is  bad,  going  o'er  it  erewhile. 
Boyet,  This  Armado  is  a  Spaniard,  that  keeps  here  in 
court ;  lOO 

A  phantasime,  a  Monarcho,  and  one  that  makes  sport 

To  the  prince  and  his  bookmates. 
Prill.  Thou  fellow,  a  word: 

Who  gave  thee  this  letter  ? 
Cost.  I  told  you  ;   my  lord. 

Prin.  To  whom  shouldst  thou  give  it? 
Cost.  From  my  lord  to  my  lady. 

Prin.  From  which  lord  to  which  lady  ? 
Cost.  From  my  lord  Biron,  a  good  master  of  mine, 

To  a  lady  of  France  that  he  call'd  Rosaline. 
Prin.  Thou  hast  mistaken  his  letter.     Come,  lords,  away. 
[To  Ros.]   Here,  sweet,  put  up  this:    'twill  be  thine  an- 
other day.  [Exeunt  Princess  and  train. 
Boyet.  Who  is  the  suitor?  who  is  the  suitor? 
Ros.                                   Shall  I  teach  you  to  know  ?     no 
Boyet.  Ay,  my  continent  of  beauty. 
Ros.                                          Why,  she  that  bears  the  bow. 

Finely  put  off ! 
Boyet.  My  lady  goes  to  kill  horns :  but,  if  thou  marry. 

Hang  me  by  the  neck,  if  horns  that  year  miscarry. 

Finely  put  on ! 
Ros.  Well,  then,  I  am  the  shooter. 

Boyet.  And  who  is  your  deer? 

Ros.  If  we  choose  by  the  horns,  yourself  come  not  near. 

Finely  put  on,  indeed ! 

59 


Act  IV.  Sc.  i.  LOVE'S  LABOUR  'S  LOST 

Mar.  You  still  wrangle  with  her,  Boyet,  and  she  strikes 

at  the  brow. 
Boyet.  But  she  herself  is  hit  lower :  have  I  hit  her  now  ? 
Ros.  Shall  I  come  upon  thee  with  an  old  saying,  that  121 
was  a  man  when  King  Pepin  of  France  was  a 
little  boy,  as  touching  the  hit  it  ? 
Boyet  So  I  may  answer  thee  with  one  as  old,  that 
was  a  woman  when  Queen  Guinover  of  Britain 
was  a  little  wench,  as  touching  the  hit  it. 
Ros.  Thou  canst  not  hit  it,  hit  it,  hit  it, 

Thou  canst  not  hit  it,  my  good  man. 
Boyet.  An  I  cannot,  cannot,  cannot,  129 

An  I  cannot,  another  can.        [Exeunt  Ros.  and  KatJi. 
Cost.  By  my  troth,  most  pleasant :  how  both  did  fit  it ! 
Mar,  A  mark  marvellous  well  shot,   for  they  both  did 

hit  it. 
Boyet.  A  mark !     O,  mark  but  that  mark !     A  mark,  says 
my  lady! 
Let  the  mark  have  a  prick  in  't,  to  mete  at,  if  it  may 
be. 
Mar.  Wide  o'  the  bow-hand !   i'  faith,  your  hand  is  out. 
Cost.  Indeed,  a'  must  shoot  nearer,  or  he  '11  ne'er  hit  the 

clout. 
Boyet.  An  if  my  hand  be  out,  then  belike  your  hand  is  in. 
Cost.  Then  will  she  get  the  upshoot  by  cleaving  the  pin. 
Mar.  Come,  come,  you  talk  greasily ;  your  lips  grow  foul. 
Cost.  She  's  too  hard  for  you  at  pricks,  sir  :  challenge  her 
to  bowl.  140 

Boyet.  I  fear  too  much  rubbing.     Good  night,  my  good 
owl.  [Exeunt  Boyet  and  Maria. 

Cost.  By  my  soul,  a  swain  !   a  most  simple  clown ! 

Lord,  Lord,  how  the  ladies  and  I  have  put  him  down ! 
O'  my  troth,  most  sweet  jests!    most  incony  vulgar 
wit ! 

60 


LOVE'S  LABOUR 'S  LOST  Act  IV.  Sc.  ii. 

When  it  comes  so  smoothly  off,  so  obscenely,  as  it 

were,  so  fit. 
Armado  o'  th'  one  side, — O,  a  most  dainty  man ! 
To  see  him  walk  before  a  lady  and  to  bear  her  fan ! 
To  see  him  kiss  his  hand!    and  how  most  sweetly  a' 

will  swear! 
And  his  page  o'  t'  other  side,  that  handful  of  wit !    ' 
Ah,  heavens,  it  is  a  most  pathetical  nit!  150 

Sola,  sola ! 

[Shout  zvithin.      [Exit  Costard,  running. 

Scene  II. 

The  same. 
Enter  Holofcrnes,  Sir  Nathaniel,  and  Dull. 

Nath.  Ytry  reverend  sport,  truly ;  and  done  in  the 
testimony  of  a  good  conscience. 

Hoi.  The  deer  was,  as  you  know,  sanguis,  in  blood; 
ripe  as  the  pomewater,  who  now  hangeth  like  a 
jewel  in  the  ear  of  caelo,  the  sky,  the  welkin, 
the  heaven ;  and  anon  falleth  like  a  crab  on  the 
face  of  terra,  the  soil,  the  land,  the  earth. 

Nath.  Truly,  Master  Holofernes,  the  epithets  are 
sweetly  varied,  like  a  scholar  at  the  least :  but, 
sir,  I  assure  ye,  it  was  a  buck  of  the  first  head.     10 

Hoi.  Sir  Nathaniel,  baud  credo.     . 

Dull.  'Twas  not  a  baud  credo;  'twas  a  pricket. 

Hoi.  Most  barbarous  intimation  !  yet  a  kind  of  insin- 
uation, as  it  were,  in  via,  in  way,  of  explication ; 
facere,  as  it  were,  replication,  or,  rather,  osten- 
tare,  to  show,  as  it  were,  his  inclination,  after  his 
undressed,  unpolished,  uneducated,  unpruned, 
untrained,   or,    rather,    unlettered,   or,   ratherest 

61 


Act  IV.  Sc.  ii.  LOVE'S  LABOUR  *S  LOST 

unconfirmed  fashion,  to  insert  again  my  haud 
credo  for  a  deer.  20 

Dull.  I  said  the  deer  was  not  a  haud  credo ;   'twas  a 

pricket. 
Hoi  Twice-sod  simplicity,  bis  coctus  ! 

O  thou  monster  Ignorance,  how  deformed  dost  thou 
look! 
A^ath.   Sir,  he  hath  never  fed  of  the  dainties  that  are  bred 
in  a  book ; 
he  hath  not  eat  paper,  as  it  were;    he  hath  not 
drunk  ink  :  his  intellect  is  not  replenished ;  he  is 
only  an  animal,  only  sensible  in  the  duller  parts : 
And  such  barren  plants  are  set  before  us,  that  we 

thankful  should  be. 
Which  we  of  taste  and  feeling  are,  for  those  parts 
that  do  fructify  in  us  more  than  he.  30 

For  as  it  would  ill  become  me  to  be  vain,  indiscreet, 

or  a  fool, 
So  were  there  a  patch  set  on  learning,  to  see  him  in 

a  school : 
But  omne  bene,  say  I ;  being  of  an  old  father's  mind. 
Many  can  brook  the  weather  that  love  not  the  wind. 
Dull.  You  two  are  book-men  :  can  you  tell  me  by  your  wit 
What  was  a  month  old  at  Cain's  birth,  that 's  not  five 
weeks  old  as  yet  ? 
Hoi.  Dictvnna,     goodman     Dull ;      Dictynna,     goodman 

Dull. 
Dull.  What  is  Dictynna? 

Nath.  A  title  to  Phoebe,  to  Luna,  to  the  moon. 
Hoi.  The  moon  was  a  month  old  when  Adam  was  no 
more. 
And  raught  not  to  five  weeks  when  he  came  to  five- 
score. 41 
The  allusion  holds  in  the  exchange. 

62 


LOVE'S  LABOUR  *S  LOST  Act  IV.  Sc.  ii. 

Dull.  'Tis  true  indeed;    the  collusion  holds  in  the  ex- 
change. 
Hoi.  God  comfort  thy  capacity!     I  say,  the  allusion 

holds  in  the  exchange. 
Dull.  And    I    say,    the   pollusion    holds    in    the    ex- 
change;   for  the  moon   is  never  but  a  month 
old:   and  I  say  beside  that,  'twas  a  pricket  that 
the  princess  killed. 
Hoi.  Sir   Nathaniel,   will   you   hear   an   extemporal     50 
epitaph   on   the   death   of   the   deer?     And,   to 
humour  the  ignorant,  call  I  the  deer  the  princess 
killed  a  pricket. 
Nath.  Perge,  good  Master  Holofernes,  perge;    so  it 

shall  please  you  to  abrogate  scurrility. 
Hoi.  I  will  something  affect  the  letter,  for  it  argues 
facility. 
The  preyful  princess  pierced  and  prick'd  a  pretty 

pleasing  pricket ; 
Some  say  a  sore ;   but  not  a  sore,  till  now  made  sore 

with  shooting. 
The  dogs  did  yell :    put  l  to  sore,  then  sorel  jumps 
from  thicket ;  60 

Or  pricket  sore,  or  else  sorel ;   the  people  fall  a-hoot- 

ing. 
If  sore  be  sore,  then  l  to  sore  makes  fifty  sores  one 

sorel. 
Of  one  sore  I  an  hundred  make  by  adding  but  one 
more  l. 
Nath.  A  rare  talent ! 
Dull.   [Aside]   If  a  talent  be  a  claw,  look  how  he 

claws  him  with  a  talent. 
Hoi.  This  is  a  gift  that  I  have,  simple,  simple;    a 
foolish  extravagant  spirit,  full  of  forms,  figures, 
shapes,   objects,   ideas,   apprehensions,   motions, 

63 


Act  IV.  Sc.  ii.  LOVE'S  LABOUR  'S  LOST 

revolutions :   these  are  begot  in  the  ventricle  of     70 
memory,  nourished  in  the  womb  of  pia  mater, 
and  delivered  upon  the  mellowing  of  occasion. 
But  the  gift  is  good  in  those  in  whom  it  is  acute, 
and  I  am  thankful  for  it. 

Nath.  Sir,  I  praise  the  Lord  for  you :  and  so  may  my 
parishioners  ;  for  their  sons  are  well  tutored  by 
you,  and  their  daughters  profit  very  greatly  un- 
der you:  you  are  a  good  member  of  the  com- 
monwealth. 

Hoi.  Mehercle,  if  their  sons  be  ingenuous,  they  shall 

want    no    instruction ;     if    their    daughters    be     80 
capable,  I  will  put  it  to  them :   but  vir  sapit  qui 
pauca  loquitur;   a  soul  feminine  saluteth  us. 

Enter  Jaquenetta  and  Costard. 

Jaq.  God  give  you  good  morrow,  master  Parson. 

Hoi.  Master  Parson,  quasi  pers-on.  xA.n  if  one 
should  be  pierced,  which  is  the  one? 

Cost.  Marry,  master  schoolmaster,  he  that  is  likest 
to  a  hogshead. 

Hoi.  Piercing  a  hogshead !  a  good  lustre  of  conceit 
in  a  turf  of  earth ;  fire  enough  for  a  flint,  pearl 
enough  for  a  swine  :    'tis  pretty ;   it  is  well.  90 

Jaq.  Good  master  Parson,  be  so  good  as  read  me 
this  letter :  it  was  given  me  by  Costard,  and  sent 
me  from  Don  Armado :   I  beseech  you,  read  it. 

Hoi.  Fauste,  precor  gelida  quando  pecus  omne  sub 
umbra  Ruminat, — and  so  forth.  Ah,  good  old 
Mantuan !  I  may  speak  of  thee  as  the  traveller 
doth  of  Venice ; 

Venetia,  Venetia, 

Chi  non  ti  vede  non  ti  pretia. 

64 


LOVE'S  LABOUR  *S  LOST  Act  IV.  Sc.  ii. 

Old  Mantuan,  old  Mantuan  !  who  understandeth  loo 
thee  not,  loves  thee  not.     Ut,  re,  sol,  la,  mi,  fa. 
Under  pardon,  sir,  what  are  the  contents?    or 
rather,  as  Horace  says  in  his — What,  my  soul, 
verses  ? 
Nath.  Ay  sir,  and  very  learned. 
Hoi.  Let  me  hear  a  staff,  a  stanze,  a  verse;    lege, 

domine. 
Nath.   [Reads] 

If  love  make  me  forsworn,  how  shall  I  swear  to  love? 
Ah,  never  faith  could  hold,  if  not  to  beauty  vow'd ! 
Though  to  myself  forsworn,  to  thee  I  '11  faithful  prove ; 
Those  thoughts  to  me  were  oaks,  to  thee  like  osiers 
bow'd.  Ill 

Study  his  bias  leaves,  and  makes  his  book  thine  eyes, 
Where  all  those  pleasures  live  that  art  would  com- 
prehend : 
If  knowdedge  be  the  mark,  to  know  thee  shall  suffice ; 
Well   learned   is   that  tongue  that   well   can  thee 
commend ; 
All  ignorant  that  soul  that  sees  thee  without  wonder ; 
Which  is  to  me  some  praise  that  I  thy  parts  ad- 
mire: 
Thy  eye  Jove's  lightning  bears,  thy  voice  his  dread- 
ful thunder, 
Which,  not  to  anger  bent,  is  music  and  sweet  fire. 
Celestial  as  thou  art,  O,  pardon  love  this  wrong,  120 
That   sings   heaven's    praise   with    such    an    earthly 
tongue. 
Hoi.  You  find  not  the  apostrophas,  and  so  miss  the 
accent :  let  me  supervise  the  canzonet.     Here  are 
only  numbers   ratified ;    but,   for  the  elegancy, 
facility,    and   golden    cadence   of   poesy,    caret. 
Ovidius  Naso  was  the  man :    and  why,  indeed. 


Act  IV.  Sc.  ii.  LOVE'S  LABOUR  *S  LOST 

Naso,  but  for  smelling  out  the  odoriferous  flow- 
ers of  fancy,  the  jerks  of  invention  ?     Imitari  is 
nothing:   so  doth  the  hound  his  master,  the  ape 
his  keeper,  the  tired  horse  his  rider.     But,  damo-  130 
sella  virgin,  was  this  directed  to  you  ? 

Jaq.  Ay,  sir,  from  one  Monsieur  Biron,  one  of  the 
strange  queen's  lords. 

Hoi.  I  will  overglance  the  superscript :  '  To  the 
snow-white  hand  of  the  most  beauteous  Lady 
Rosaline.'  I  \\\\\  look  again  on  the  intellect  of 
the  letter,  for  the  nomination  of  the  party  wri- 
ting to  the  person  written  tmto :  '  Your  lady- 
ship's in  all  desired  employment,  Biron/  Sir 
Nathaniel,  this  Biron  is  one  of  the  votaries  with  140 
the  king ;  and  here  he  hath  framed  a  letter  to  a 
sequent  of  the  stranger  queen's,  which  acciden- 
tally, or  by  the  way  of  progression,  hath  miscar- 
ried. Trip  and  go,  my  sweet ;  deliver  this  paper 
into  the  royal  hand  of  the  king:  it  may  con- 
cern much.  Stay  not  thy  compliment;  I  for- 
give thy  duty:    adieu. 

Jaq.  Good  Costard,  go  with  me.  Sir,  God  save  your 
life! 

Cost.  Have  with  thee,  my  girl.       [Exeunt  Cost,  and  Jaq. 

Nath.  Sir,  you  have  done  this  in  the  fear  of  God,   150 
very  religiously ;   and,  as  a  certain  father  saith, — 

Hoi.  Sir,  tell  not  me  of  the  father ;  I  do  fear  colour- 
able colours.  But  to  return  to  the  verses :  did 
they  please  you.  Sir  Nathaniel? 

Nath.  Marvellous  well  for  the  pen. 

Hoi.  I  do  dine  to-day  at  the  father's  of  a  certain  pupil 
of  mine :  where,  if,  before  repast,  it  shall  please 
you  to  gratify  the  table  with  a  grace,  I  will,  on 

66 


LOVE'S  LABOUR  'S  LOST  Act  IV.  Sc.  iii. 

my  privilege  I  have  with  the  parents  of  the  fore- 
said child  or  pupil,  undertake  your  ben  venuto ;   i6o 
where  I  will  prove  those  verses  to  be  very  un- 
learned, neither  savouring  of  poetry,   wit,  nor 
invention:   I  beseech  your  society. 

Nath.  And  thank  you  too  ;  for  society,  saith  the  text, 
is  the  happiness  of  hfe. 

Hoi.  And,  certes,  the  text  most  infallibly  concludes 
it.     {To  Dull]  Sir,  I  do  invite  you  too ;  you  shall 
not  say  me  nay :    pauca  verba.      Away !     the 
gentles  are  at  their  game,  and  we  will  to  our  169 
recreation.  [Exeunt, 

4 
Scene  IIL 

The  same. 

Enter  Biron,  zvith  a  paper. 

Biron.  The  king  he  is  hunting  the  deer ;  I  am  cours- 
ing myself :  they  have  pitched  a  toil ;  I  am 
toiling  in  a  pitch, — pitch  that  defiles  :  defile !  a 
foul  word.  Well,  set  thee  down,  sorrow!  for 
so  they  say  the  fool  said,  and  so  say  I,  and  I  the 
fool :  well  proved,  wit !  By  the  Lord,  this  love 
is  as  mad  as  Ajax :  it  kills  sheep ;  it  kills  me,  I  a 
sheep :  well  proved  again  o'  my  side !  I  will  not 
love :  if  I  do,  hang  me ;  i'  faith,  I  will  not.  O, 
but  her  eye, — by  this  light,  but  for  her  eye,  I  10 
would  not  love  her;  yes,  for  her  two  eyes. 
Well,  I  do  nothing  in  the  world  but  lie,  and  lie 
in  my  throat.  By  heaven,  I  do  love :  and  it  hath 
taught  me  to  rhyme,  and  to  be  melancholy ;  and 
here  is  part  of  my  rhyme,  and  here  my  melan- 

67 


Act  IV.  Sc.  iii.  LOVE'S  LABOUR 'S  LOST 

choly.  Well,  she  hath  one  o'  my  sonnets  al- 
ready :  the  clown  bore  it,  the  fool  sent  it,  and  the 
lady  hath  it ;  sweet  clown,  sweeter  fool,  sweetest 
lady!  By  the  world,  I  would  not  care  a  pin,  if 
the  other  three  were  in.  Here  comes  one  with  a  20 
paper ;  God  give  him  grace  to  groan  !  [Stands  aside. 

Enter  the  King,  with  a  paper. 

King.  Ay  me! 

Biron.   [Aside]   Shot,   by  heaven !     Proceed,   sweet 
Cupid;    thou  hast  thumped  him  with  thy  bird- 
^       bolt  under  the  left  pap.     In  faith,  secrets ! 
King.   [Reads] 

So  sweet  a  kiss  the  golden  sun  gives  not 

To  those  fresh  morning  drops  upon  the  rose, 
As  thy  eye-beams,  when  their  fresh  rays  have  smote 

The  night  of  dew  that  on  my  cheeks  down  flows ; 
Nor  shines  the  silver  moon  one  half  so  bright        30 

Through  the  transparent  bosom  of  the  deep. 
As  doth  thy  face  through  tears  of  mine  give  light ; 

Thou  shinest  in  every  tear  that  I  do  weep : 
No  drop  but  as  a  coach  doth  carry  thee ; 
So  ridest  thou  triumphing  in  my  woe. 
Do  but  behold  the  tears  that  swell  in  me. 

And  they  thy  glory  through  my  grief  will  show : 
But  do  not  love  thyself ;   then  thou  wilt  keep 
My  tears  for  glasses,  and  still  make  we  weep. 
O  queen  of  queens !   how  far  dost  thou  excel,         40 
No  thought  can  think,  nor  tongue  of  mortal  tell. 
How    shall    she    know    my   griefs  ?     I  '11    drop    the 

paper : — 
Sweet  leaves,  shade  folly.     Who  is  he  comes  here  ? 

[Steps  aside. 

68 


LOVrS  LABOUR 'S  LOST  Act  IV.  Sc.  iii. 

What,  Longaville  !   and  reading !   listen,  ear. 
Biron,  Now,  in  thy  hkeness,  one  more  fool  appear ! 

Enter  Longaville,  with  a  paper. 

Long.  Ay  me,  I  am  forsworn ! 

Biron.  Why,   he  comes  in   like  a  perjure,   wearing 

papers. 
King.  In  love,  I  hope:   sweet  fellowship  in  shame! 
Biron.  One  drunkard  loves  another  of  the  name. 
Long.  Am  I  the  first  that  have  been  perjured  so?  50 

Biron.  I  could  put  thee  in  comfort.     Not  by  two  that 
I  know : 
Thou  makest  the  triumviry,  the  corner-cap  of  society. 
The  shape  of  Love's  Tyburn  that  hangs  up  simplicity. 
Long.  I  fear  these  stubborn  lines  lack  power  to  move. 
O  sweet  Maria,  empress  of  my  love! 
These  numbers  will  I  tear,  and  write  in  prose. 
Biron.  O,  rhymes  are  guards  on  wanton  Cupid's  hose : 

Disfigure  not  his  slop. 
Long.  This  same  shall  go.      [Reads. 

Did  not  the  heavenly  rhetoric  of  thine  eye, 

'Gainst  whom  the  world  cannot  hold  argument,  60 
Persuade  my  heart  to  this  false  perjury? 

Vows  for  thee  broke  deserve  not  punishment. 
A  woman  I  forswore ;  but  I  will  prove. 

Thou  being  a  goddess,  I  forswore  not  thee : 
My  vow  was  earthly,  thou  a  heavenly  love ; 

Thy  grace  being  gain'd  cures  all  disgrace  in  me. 
Vows  are  but  breath,  and  breath  a  vapour  is : 

Then  thou,  fair  sun,  which  on  my  earth  dost  shine, 
Exhalest  this  vapour-vow  ;   in  thee  it  is  : 

If  broken  then,  it  is  no  fault  of  mine :  70 

69 


Act  IV.  Sc.  iii.  LOVE'S  LABOUR 'S  LOST 

If  by  me  broke,  what  fool  is  not  so  wise 

To  lose  an  oath  to  win  a  paradise  ? 
Biron.  This  is  the  liver-vein,  which  makes  flesh  a  deity, 

A  green  goose  a  goddess :   pure,  pure  idolatry. 

God  amend  us,  God  amend !   we  are  much  out  o'  the 
way. 
Long.  By  whom  shall  I  send  this  ? — Company !   stay. 

[Steps  aside. 
Biron.  All  hid,  all  hid,  an  old  infant  play. 

Like  a  demigod  here  sit  I  in  the  sky, 

And  wretched  fools'  secrets  heedfuUy  o'er-eye.       79 

More  sacks  to  the  mill !     O  heavens,  I  have  my  wish ! 

Enter  Dumain  zuith  a  paper. 

Dumain  transform'd !    four  woodcocks  in  a  dish ! 
Dum.  O  most  divine  Kate ! 
Biron.  O  most  profane  coxcomb  ! 
Dum.  By  heaven,  the  wonder  in  a  mortal  eye! 
Biron.  By  earth,  she  is  not,  corporal,  there  you  lie. 
Dum.  Her  amber  hairs  for  foul  hath  amber  quoted. 
Biron.  An  amber-colour' d  raven  was  well  noted. 
Dum.  As  upright  as  the  cedar. 
Biron.       .  Stoop,  I  say; 

Her  shoulder  is  with  child. 
Dum.  As  fair  as  day. 

Biron.  Ay,  as  some  days ;  but  then  no  sun  must  shine.  90 
Dum.  O  that  I  had  my  wish! 
Long.  And  I  had  mine! 

King.  And  I  mine  too,  good  Lord ! 
Biron.  Amen,  so  I  had  mine :  is  not  that  a  good  word  ? 
Dum.  I  would  forget  her ;  but  a  fever  she 

Reigns  in  my  blood,  and  will  remember'd  be. 

70 


LOVE'S  LABOUR  'S  LOST  Act  IV.  Sc.  iii. 

Biron.  A  fever  in  your  blood !   why,  then  incision 

Would  let  her  out  in  saucers :  sweet  misprision ! 
Dum.  Once  more  I  '11  read  the  ode  that  I  have  writ. 
Biron.  Once  more  I  '11  mark  how  love  can  vary  wit. 
Dum.   [Reads] 

On  a  day — alack  the  day ! —  lOO 

Love,  whose  month  is  ever  May, 

Spied  a  blossom  passing  fair 

Playing  in  the  wanton  air : 

Through  the  velvet  leaves  the  wind, 

All  unseen,  can  passage  find ; 

That  the  lover,  sick  to  death, 

Wish  himself  the  heaven's  breath. 

Air,  quoth  he,  thy  cheeks  may  blow ; 

Air,  would  I  might  triumph  so ! 

But,  alack,  my  hand  is  sworn  no 

Ne'er  to  pluck  thee  from  thy  thorn ; 

Vow,  alack,  for  youth  unmeet. 

Youth  so  apt  to  pluck  a  sweet ! 

Do  not  call  it  sin  in  me. 

That  I  am  forsworn  for  thee ; 

Thou  for  whom  Jove  would  swear 

Juno  but  an  Ethiope  were ; 

And  deny  himself  for  Jove, 

Turning  mortal  for  thy  love. 

This  will  I  send  and  something  else  more  plain,   120 

That  shall  express  my  true  love's  fasting  pain. 

O,  would  the  king,  Biron,  and  Longaville, 

Were  lovers  too !     Ill,  to  example  ill, 

Would  from  my  forehead  wipe  a  perjured  note; 

For  none  offend  where  all  alike  do  dote. 

71 


Act  IV.  Sc.  iii.  LOVE'S  LABOUR  'S  LOST 

Long.   [Advancing]  Dumain,  thy  love  is  far  from  charity, 
That  in  love's  grief  desirest  society : 
You  may  look  pale,  but  I  should  blush,  I  know, 
To  be  o'erheard  and  taken  napping  so. 

King.   [Advancing]    Come,  sir,  you  blush;    as  his  your 
case  is  such  ;  130 

You  chide  at  him,  offending  twice  as  much ; 
You  do  not  love  Maria ;   Longaville 
Did  never  sonnet  for  her  sake  compile. 
Nor  never  lay  his  wreathed  arms  athwart 
His  loving  bosom,  to  keep  down  his  heart. 
I  have  been  closely  shrouded  in  this  bush 
And  mark'd  you  both  and  for  you  both  did  blush : 
I  heard  your  guilty  rhymes,  observed  your  fashion. 
Saw  sighs  reek  from  you,  noted  well  your  passion : 
Ay  me!   says  one;   O  Jove!   the  other  cries;        140 
One,  her  hairs  were  gold,  crystal  the  other's  eyes : 
You  would  for  paradise  break  faith  and  troth ; 

[To  Long. 
And  Jove,  for  your  love,  would  infringe  an  oath. 

[To  Dnm. 
What  will  Biron  say  when  that  he  shall  hear 
Faith  infringed,  which  such  zeal  did  swear  ? 
How  will  he  scorn  !  how  will  he  spend  his  wit ! 
How  will  he  triumph,  leap  and  laugh  at  it ! 
For  all  the  wealth  that  ever  I  did  see, 
I  would  not  have  him  know  so  much  by  me. 

Biron.  Now  step  I  forth  to  whip  hypocrisy.  150 

[Advancing. 
Ah,  good  my  liege,  I  pray  thee,  pardon  me ! 
Good  heart,  what  grace  hast  thou,  thus  to  reprove 
These  worms  for  loving,  that  art  most  in  love? 

72 


LOVE'S  LABOUR  *S  LOST  Act  IV.  Sc.  iii. 

Your  eyes  do  make  no  coaches ;  in  your  tears 

There  is  no  certain  princess  that  appears ; 

You  '11  not  be  perjured,  'tis  a  hateful  thing; 

Tush,  none  but  minstrels  like  of  sonneting! 

But  are  you  not  ashamed  ?  nay,  are  you  not. 

All  three  of  you,  to  be  thus  much  o'ershot  ? 

You  found  his  mote ;  the  king  your  mote  did  see  ;  i6o 

But  I  a  beam  do  find  in  each  of  three. 

0,  what  a  scene  of  foolery  have  I  seen. 
Of  sighs,  of  groans,  of  sorrow  and  of  teen ! 

0  me,  with  what  strict  patience  have  I  sat, 
To  see  a  king  transformed  to  a  gnat! 
To  see  great  Hercules  whipping  a  gig, 
And  profound  Solomon  to  tune  a  jig. 
And  Nestor  play  at  push-pin  with  the  boys, 
And  critic  Timon  laugh  at  idle  toys ! 

Where  lies  thy  grief,  O,  tell  me,  good  Dumain?  170 

And,  gentle  Longaville,  where  lies  thy  pain  ? 

And  where  my  liege's  ?  all  about  the  breast : 

A  caudle,  ho ! 
King.  Too  bitter  is  thy  jest. 

Are  we  betray'd  thus  to  thy  over-view? 
Biron.  Not  you  to  me,  but  I  betray'd  by  you : 

1,  that  am  honest ;  I,  that  hold  it  sin 
To  break  the  vow  I  am  engaged  in  ; 

1  am  betray'd,  by  keeping  company 
With  men  like  you,  men  of  inconstancy. 

When  shall  you  see  me  write  a  thing  in  rhyme?  180 
Or  groan  for  love?  or  spend  a  minute's  time 
In  pruning  me?     W^hen  shall  you  hear  that  I 
Will  praise  a  hand,  a  foot,  a  face,  an  eye, 
A  gait,  a  state,  a  brow,  a  breast,  a  waist, 

73 


Act  IV.  Sc.  iii.  LOVE'S  LABOUR  'S  LOST 

A  leg,  a  limb? — 
King.  Soft !  whither  away  so  fast  ? 

A  true  man  or  a  thief  that  gallops  so? 
Biron.  I  post  from  love :  good  lover,  let  me  go. 

Enter  Jaquenetta  and  Costard. 

Jaq.  God  bless  the  king! 

King.  What  present  hast  thou  there? 

Cost.  Some  certain  treason. 

King.  What  makes  treason  here  ? 

Cost.  Nay,  it  makes  nothing,  sir. 

King.  If  it  mar  nothing  neither,   190 

The  treason  and  you  go  in  peace  away  together. 
Jaq.  I  beseech  your  grace,  let  this  letter  be  read : 

Our  parson  misdoubts  it ;  'twas  treason,  he  said. 
King.  Biron,  read  it  over.  [Giving  him  the  paper. 

Where  hadst  thou  it  ? 
Jaq.  Of  Costard. 
King.  Where  hadst  thou  it  ? 
Cost.  Of  Dun  Adramadio,  Dun  Adramadio. 

[Biron  tears  the  letter. 

King.  How  now !  what  is  in  you  ?  why  dost  thou  tear  it  ? 

Biron.  A  toy,   my  liege,  a  toy:    your  grace  needs  not 

fear  it.  200 

Long.  It  did  move  him  to  passion,  and  therefore  let 's 

hear  it. 
Dnm.  It  is  Biron's  writing,  and  here  is  his  name. 

[Gathering  up  the  pieces. 
Biron.    [To  Costard]   Ah,  you  whoreson  loggerhead !  you 
were  born  to  do  me  shame. 
Guilty,  my  lord,  guilty !    I  confess,  I  confess. 
King.  What? 

74 


LOVE'S  LABOUR'S  LOST  Act  IV.  Sc.  iii. 

Biron.  That  you  three  fools  lack'd  me  fool  to  make  up  the 
mess : 
He,  he,  and  you,  and  you,  my  liege,  and  I, 
Are  pick-purses  in  love,  and  we  deserve  to  die. 
O,  dismiss  this  audience,  and  I  shall  tell  you  more. 
Dmn,  Now  the  number  is  even. 

Biron.  True,  true ;   we  are  four. 

Will  these  turtles  be  gone  ?  211 

Xing.  Hence,  sirs;    away! 

Cost.  Walk  aside  the  true  folk,  and  let  the  traitors  stay. 

[Exeunt  Costard  and  Jaquenetta. 
Biron.  Sweet  lords,  sweet  lovers,  O,  let  us  embrace! 
As  true  we  are  as  flesh  and  blood  can  be : 
The  sea  will  ebb  and  flow,  heaven  show  his  face ; 

Young  blood  doth  not  obey  an  old  decree : 
We  cannot  cross  the  cause  why  we  were  born ; 
Therefore  of  all  hands  must  we  be  forsworn. 
King.  What,    did   these   rent   lines    show   some   love   of 

thine  ? 
Biron.  Did  they,   quoth   you?     Who   sees   the   heavenly 
Rosaline,  220 

That,  like  a  rude  and  savage  man  of  Inde, 

At  the  first  opening  of  the  gorgeous  east, 
Bows  not  his  vassal  head,  and  strucken  blind 

Kisses  the  base  ground  with  obedient  breast  ? 
What  peremptory  eagle-sighted  eye 

Dares  look  upon  the  heaven  of  her  brow. 
That  is  not  blinded  by  her  majesty? 
King.  What  zeal,  what  fury  hath  inspired  thee  now? 
My  love,  her  mistress,  is  a  gracious  moon ; 
She  an  attending  star,  scarce  seen  a  light.  230 

Biroti.  My  eyes  are  then  no  eyes,  nor  I  Biron : 
O,  but  for  my  love,  day  would  turn  to  night ! 

75 


Act  IV.  Sc.  iii.  LOVrS  LABOUR'S  LOST 

Of  all  complexions  the  cull'd  sovereignty 

Do  meet,  as  at  a  fair,  in  her  fair  cheek ; 
Where  several  worthies  make  one  dignity, 

Where  nothing  wants  that  want  itself  doth  seek. 
Lend  me  the  flourish  of  all  gentle  tongues, — 

Fie,  painted  rhetoric !     O,  she  needs  it  not : 
To  things  of  sale  a  seller's  praise  belongs. 

She  passes  praise ;  then  praise  too  short  doth  blot. 
A  withered  hermit,  five-score  winters  worn,  241 

Might  shake  off  fifty,  looking  in  her  eye : 
Beauty  doth  varnish  age,  as  if  new-born 

And  gives  the  crutch  the  cradle's  infancy : 
O,  'tis  the  sun  that  maketh  all  things  shine. 
King.  By  heaven,  thy  love  is  black  as  ebony. 
Biron.  Is  ebony  like  her?     O  wood  divine! 

A  wife  of  such  wood  were  felicity. 
O,  who  can  give  an  oath  ?  where  is  a  book  ? 

That  I  may  swear  beauty  doth  beauty  lack,        250 
If  that  she  learn  not  of  her  eye  to  look : 

No  face  is  fair  that  is  not  full  so  black. 
King.  O  paradox !     Black  is  the  badge  of  hell, 

The  hue  of  dungeons  and  the  suit  of  night ; 
And  beauty's  crest  becomes  the  heavens  well. 
Biron.  Devils  soonest  tempt,  resembling  spirits  of  light. 
O,  if  in  black  my  lady's  brows  be  deck'd. 

It  mourns  that  painting  and  usurping  hair 
Should  ravish  doters  with  a  false  aspect ; 

And  therefore  is  she  born  to  make  black  fair.      260 
Her  favour  turns  the  fashion  of  the  days, 

For  native  blood  is  counted  painting  now  ; 
And  therefore  red,  that  would  avoid  dispraise, 

Paints  itself  black,  to  imitate  her  brow. 
76 


LOVE'S  LABOUR'S  LOST  Act  IV.  Sc.  iii. 

Dum.  To  look  like  her  are  chimney-sweepers  black. 
Long.  And  since  her  time  are  colliers  counted  bright. 
King.  And  Ethiopes  of  their  sweet  complexion  crack. 
Dum.  Dark  needs  no  candles  now,  for  dark  is  light. 
Biron.  Your  mistresses  dare  never  come  in  rain, 

For  fear  their  colours  should  be  wash'd  away.      270 
King.  'Twere  good,  yours  did ;   for,  sir,  to  tell  you  plain, 

I  '11  find  a  fairer  face  not  wash'd  to-day. 
Biron.  I  '11  prove  her  fair,  or  talk  till  doomsday  here. 
King.  No  devil  will  fright  thee  then  so  much  as  she. 
Dum.  I  never  knew  man  hold  vile  stuff  so  dear. 
Long.  Look,  here  's  thy  love :  my  foot  and  her  face  see. 
Biron.  O,  if  the  streets  were  paved  with  thine  eyes, 

Her  feet  were  much  too  dainty  for  such  tread! 
Dum.  O  vile !  then,  as  she  goes,  what  upward  lies 

The  street  should  see  as  she  walk'd  overhead.      280 
King.  But  what  of  this  ?  are  we  not  all  in  love  ? 
Biron.  Nothing  so  sure ;  and  thereby  all  forsworn. 
King.  Then  leave  this  chat ;  and,  good  Biron,  now  prove 

Our  loving  lawful,  and  our  faith  not  torn. 
Dum.  Ay,  marry,  there ;   some  flattery  for  this  evil. 
Long.  O,  some  authority  how  to  proceed  ; 

Some  tricks,  some  quillets,  how  to  cheat  the  devil. 
Dum.  Some  salve  for  perjury. 
Biron.  'Tis  more  than  need. 

Have  at  you,  then,  affection's  men  at  arms. 

Consider  what  you  first  did  swear  unto,  290 

To  fast,  to  study,  and  to  see  no  woman ; 

Flat  treason  'gainst  the  kingly  state  of  youth. 

Say,  can  you  fast  ?  your  stomachs  are  too  young ; 

And  abstinence  engenders  maladies. 

And  where  that  you  have  vow'd  to  study,  lords, 

77 


Act  IV.  Sc.  iii.  LOVE'S  LABOUR  'S  LOST 

In  that  each  of  you  have  forsworn  his  book, 

Can  you  still  dream  and  pore  and  thereon  look? 

For  when  would  you,  my  lord,  or  you,  or  you. 

Have  found  the  ground  of  study's  excellence 

Without  the  beauty  of  a  woman's  face  ?  300 

From  women's  eyes  this  doctrine  I  derive : 

They  are  the  ground,  the  books,  the  academes 

From  whence  doth  spring  the  true  Promethean  fire. 

Why,  universal  plodding  prisons  up 

The  nimble  spirits  in  the  arteries. 

As  motion  and  long-during  action  tires 

The  sinewy  vigour  of  the  traveller. 

Now,  for  not  looking  on  a  woman's  face, 

You  have  in  that  forsworn  the  use  of  eyes 

And  study  too,  the  causer  of  your  vow^;  310 

For  w^here  is  any  author  in  the  world 

Teaches  such  beauty  as  a  woman's  eye? 

Learning  is  but  an  adjunct  to  ourself, 

And  where  we  are  our  learning  likewise  is. 

Then  when  ourselves  we  see  in  ladies'  eyes. 

Do  we  not  likewise  see  our  learning  there  ? 

O,  we  have  made  a  vow  to  study,  lords. 

And  in  that  vow  we  have  forsworn  our  books. 

For  when  would  you,  my  liege,  or  you,  or  you. 

In  leaden  contemplation  have  found  out  320 

Such  fiery  numbers  as  the  prompting  eyes 

Of  beauty's  tutors  have  enrich'd  you  with? 

Other  slow  arts  entirely  keep  the  brain  ; 

And  therefore,  finding  barren  practisers. 

Scarce  show  a  harvest  of  their  heavy  toil : 

But  love,  first  learned  in  a  lady's  eyes. 

Lives  not  alone  immured  in  the  brain ; 

78 


LOVE'S  LABOUR  'S  LOST  Act  IV.  Sc.  iii. 

But,  with  the  motion  of  all  elements, 

Courses  as  swift  as  thought  in  every  power, 

And  gives  to  every  power  a  double  power,  330 

Above  their  functions  and  their  offices. 

It  adds  a  precious  seeing  to  the  eye ; 

A  lover's  eyes  will  gaze  an  eagle  blind ; 

A  lover's  ear  will  hear  the  lowest  sound. 

When  the  suspicious  head  of  theft  is  stopp'd : 

Love's  feeling  is  more  soft  and  sensible 

Than  are  the  tender  horns  of  cockled  snails ; 

Love's  tongue  proves  dainty  Bacchus  gross  in  taste: 

For  valour,  is  not  Love  a  Hercules, 

Still  climbing  trees  in  the  Hesperides  ?  340 

Subtle  as  sphinx;   as  sweet  and  musical 

As  bright  Apollo's  lute,  strung  with  his  hair ; 

And  when  Love  speaks,  the  voice  of  all  the  gods 

Make  heaven  drowsy  with  the  harmony. 

Never  durst  poet  touch  a  pen  to  write 

Until  his  ink  were  temper'd  with  Love's  sighs ; 

O,  then  his  lines  would  ravage  savage  ears, 

And  plant  in  tyrants  mild  humility. 

From  women's  eyes  this  doctrine  I  derive  ; 

They  sparkle  still  the  right  Promethean  fire ;         350 

They  are  the  books,  the  arts,  the  academes. 

That  show,  contain  and  nourish  all  the  world : 

Else  none  at  all  in  aught  proves  excellent. 

Then  fools  you  were  these  women  to  forswear ; 

Or  keeping  what  is  sworn,  you  will  prove  fools. 

For  wisdom's  sake,  a  word  that  all  men  love ; 

Or  for  love's  sake,  a  word  that  loves  all  men ; 

Or  for  men's  sake,  the  authors  of  these  women; 

Or  women's  sake,  by  whom  we  men  are  men  ; 

79 


Act  IV.  Sc.  iii.  LOVE'S  LABOUR  *S  LOST 

Let  us  once  lose  our  oaths  to  find  ourselves,         360 
Or  else  we  lose  ourselves  to  keep  our  oaths.- 
It  is  religion  to  be  thus  forsworn, 
For  charity  itself  fulfils  the  law, 
And  who  can  sever  love  from  charity? 
King.  Saint  Cupid,  then  !  and,  soldiers  to  the  field  ! 
Biron.  Advance  your  standards,  and  upon  them,  lords ; 
Pell-mell,  down  with  them !    but  be  first  advised, 
In  conflict  that  you  get  the  sun  of  them. 
Long,  Now  to  plain-dealing ;   lay  these  glozes  by : 

Shall  we  resolve  to  woo  these  girls  of  France  ?      370 
King.  And  win  them  too :  therefore  let  us  devise 
Some  entertainment  for  them  in  their  tents. 
Biron.  First,  from  the  park  let  us  conduct  them  thither ; 
Then  homeward  every  man  attach  the  hand 
Of  his  fair  mistress  :  in  the  afternoon 
We  will  with  some  strange  pastime  solace  them. 
Such  as  the  shortness  of  the  time  can  shape ; 
For  revels,  dances,  masks  and  merry  hours 
Forerun  fair  Love,  strewing  her  way  with  flowers. 
King.  Away,  away !  no  time  shall  be  omitted  380 

That  will  betime,  and  may  by  us  be  fitted. 
Biron.  Allons  !   allons  !     Sow'd  cockle  reap'd  no  com ; 
And  justice  always  whirls  in  equal  measure: 
Light  wenches  may  prove  plagues  to  men  forsworn ; 
If  so,  our  copper  buys  no  better  treasure.  [Exeunt. 


80 


LOVE'S  LABOUR  'S  LOST  Act  V.  Sc.  i. 

ACT  FIFTH. 

Scene  L 

The  same. 
Enter  Holof ernes,  Sir  Nathaniel,  and  Dull 

Hoi  Satis  quod  sufficit. 

Nath.  I  praise  God  for  you,  sir:  your  reasons  at 
dinner  have  been  sharp  and  sententious ;  pleas- 
ant without  scurrility,  witty  without  affection, 
audacious  without  impudency,  learned  without 
opinion,  and  strange  without  heresy.  I  did  con- 
verse this  quondam  day  with  a  companion  of  the 
king's,  who  is  intituled,  nominated,  or  called, 
Don  Adriano  de  Armado. 

Hoi  Novi  hominem  tanquam  te :  his  humour  is  lo 
lofty,  his  discourse  peremptory,  his  tongue  filed, 
his  eye  ambitious,  his  gait  majestical,  and  his 
general  behaviour  vain,  ridiculous,  and  thra- 
sonical. He  is  too  picked,  too  spruce,  too  af- 
fected, too  odd,  as  it  were,  too  peregrinate,  as 
I  may  call  it. 

Nath.  A  most  singular  and  choice  epithet. 

{Draws  out  his  table-book. 

Hoi  He  draweth  out  the  thread  of  his  verbosity  finer 
than  the  staple  of  his  argument.  I  abhor  such 
fanatical  phantasimes,  such  in  sociable  and  point- 
devise  companions  ;  such  rackers  of  orthography,  20 
as  to  speak  dout,  fine,  when  he  should  say  doubt ; 
del,  when  he  should  pronounce  debt, — d,  e,  b,  t, 
not  d,  e,  t :  he  clepeth  a  calf,  cauf ;  half,  hauf ; 
neighbour  vocatur  nebour ;  neigh  abbreviated  ne. 
This  is  abhominable, — which  he  would  call  ab- 
8i 


Act  V.  Sc.  i.  LOVE'S  LABOUR  'S  LOST 

bominable :  it  insinuateth  me  of  insanie :  ne 
intelligis,  domine  ?  to  make  frantic,  lunatic. 

Nath.  Laus  Deo,  bene  intelligo. 

Hoi.  Bon,  bon,  fort  bon !   Priscian  a  little  scratched ; 

'twill  serve.  30 

Nath.  Videsne  quis  venit  ? 

Hoi.  Video,  et  gaudeo. 

Enter  Armado,  Moth,  and  Costard. 

Arm.  Chirrah!  [To  Moth. 

Hot.  Quare  chirrah,  not  sirrah  ? 

Arm.  Men  of  peace,  well  encountered. 

Hoi.  Most  military  sir,  salutation. 

Moth.    [Aside  to  Costard]   They  have  been  at  a  great 

feast  of  languages,  and  stolen  the  scraps. 
Cost.  O,  they  have  lived  long  on  the  alms-basket  of 

words.     I  marvel  thy  master  hath  not  eaten  thee     40 

for  a  word ;  for  thou  art  not  so  long  by  the  head 

as    honorificabilitudinitatibus :    thou    art    easier 

swallowed  than  a  flap-dragon. 
Moth.  Peace !   the  peal  begins. 
Arm.    [To  HoL]     Monsieur,  are  you  not  lettered? 
Moth.  Yes,    yes;    he    teaches    boys    the    horn-book. 

What  is  a,  b,   spelt  backward,   with  the  horn 

on  his  head? 
Hoi.  Ba,  pueritia,  with  a  horn  added. 
Moth.  Ba,  most  silly  sheep  with  a  horn.     You  hear     50 

his  learning. 
Hoi.  Quis,  quis,  thou  consonant  ? 
Moth.  The  third  of  the  five  vowels,  if  you  repeat 

them ;   or  the  fifth,  if  I. 
Hoi.  I  will  repeat  them, — a,  e,  i, — 

82 


LOVE'S  LABOUR  'S  LOST  Act  V.  Sc.  i. 

Moth.  The  sheep :  the  other  two  concludes  it, — o,  u. 

Arm.  Now,  by  the  salt  wave  of  the  Mediterraneum, 
a  sweet  touch,  a  quick  venue  of  wit, — snip, 
snap,  quick  and  home !  it  rejoiceth  my  intellect : 
true  wit !  60 

Moth.  Offered  by  a  child  to  an  old  man ;  which  is 
wit-old. 

Hoi.  What  is  the  figure?  what  is  the  figure? 

Moth.  Horns. 

Hoi.  Thou  disputest  Hke  an  infant:    go,  whip  thy 

gig- 

Moth.  Lend  me  your  horn  to  make  one,  and  I  will 
whip  about  your  infamy  circum  circa, — a  gig  of 
a  cuckold's  horn. 

Cost.  An  I  had  but  one  penny  in  the  world,  thou  70 
shouldst  have  it  to  buy  gingerbread :  hold,  there 
is  the  very  remuneration  I  had  of  thy  master, 
thou  halfpenny  purse  of  wit,  thou  pigeon-egg 
of  discretion.  O,  an  the  heavens  were  so 
pleased  that  thou  wert  but  my  bastard,  what  a 
joyful  father  wouldst  thou  make  me!  Go  to; 
thou  hast  it  ad  dunghill,  at  the  fingers'  ends,  as 
they  say. 

Hoi.  O,  I  smell  false  Latin ;    dunghill  for  unguem. 

Arm.  Arts-man,   preambulate,  we  will  be  singuled     80 
from  the  barbarous.     Do  you  not  educate  youth 
at  the  charge-house  on  the  top  of  the  mountain  ? 

Hoi.  Or  mons,  the  hill. 

Arm.  At  your  sweet  pleasure,  for  the  mountain. 

Hoi.  I  do,  sans  question. 

Arm.  Sir,  it  is  the  king's  most  sweet  pleasure  and 
affection   to   congratulate   the   princess    at   her 

83 


Act  V.  Sc.  i.  LOVE'S  LABOUR  'S  LOST 

pavilion  in  the  posteriors  of  this  day,  which  the 
rude  multitude  call  the  afternoon. 

Hoi.  The  posterior  of  the  day,  most  generous  sir,     90 
is  liable,  congruent  and  measurable  for  the  af- 
ternoon :    the  word  is  well  culled,  chose,  sweet 
and  apt,  I  do  assure  you,  sir,  I  do  assure  you. 

Arm.  Sir,  the  king  is  a  noble  gentleman,  and  my 
familiar,  I  do  assure  ye,  very  good  friend:  for 
what  is  inward  between  us,  let  it  pass.  I  do 
beseech  thee,  remember  thy  courtesy ;  I  beseech 
thee,  apparel  thy  head:  and  among  other  im- 
portant and  most  serious  designs,  and  of  great 
import,  indeed,  too,  but  let  that  pass :  for  I  must  100 
tell  thee,  it  will  please  his  grace,  by  the  world, 
sometime  to  lean  upon  my  poor  shoulder,  and 
with  his  royal  finger,  thus,  dally  with  my  excre- 
ment, with  my  mustachio ;  but,  sweet  heart,  let 
that  pass.  By  the  world,  I  recount  no  fable : 
some  certain  special  honours  it  pleaseth  his 
greatness  to  impart  to  Armado,  a  soldier,  a  man 
of  travel,  that  hath  seen  the  world ;  but  let  that 
pass.  The  very  all  of  all  is, — but,  sweet  heart, 
I  do  implore  secrecy, — that  the  king  would  have  no 
me  present  the  princess,  sweet  chuck,  with  some 
delightful  ostentation,  or  show,  or  pageant,  or 
antique,  or  firework.  Now,  understanding  that 
the  curate  and  your  sweet  self  are  good  at  such 
eruptions  and  sudden  breaking  out  of  mirth,  as 
it  were,  I  have  acquainted  you  withal,  to  the 
end  to  crave  your  assistance. 

Hoi.  Sir,  you    shall    present    before    her    the    Nine 
Worthies.     Sir,  as  concerning  some  entertain- 
84 


LOVE'S  LABOUR  *S  LOST  Act  V.  Sc.  i. 

ment  of  time,  some  show  in  the  posterior  of  this  120 
day,  to  be  rendered  by  our  assistants,   at  the 
king's  command,  and  this  most  gallant,  illustrate, 
and  learned  gentleman,  before  the  princess ;    I 
say  none  so  fit  as  to  present  the  Nine  Worthies. 

Nath.  Where  will  you  find  men  worthy  enough  to 
present  them? 

Hoi.  Joshua,  yourself;  myself  and  this  gallant 
gentleman,  Judas  Maccabaeus ;  this  swain, 
because  of  his  great  limb  or  joint,  shall  pass 
Pompey  the  Great;   the  page,  Hercules, —  130 

Arm.  Pardon,  sir;  error:  he  is  not  quantity  enough 
for  that  Worthy's  thumb :  he  is  not  so  big  as 
the  end  of  his  club. 

Hoi.  Shall  I  have  audience?  he  shall  present  Her- 
cules in  minority :  his  enter  and  exit  shalf  be 
strangling  a  snake ;  and  I  will  have  an  apology 
for  that  purpose. 

Moth.  An    excellent    device!     so,    if    any    of    the 
audience  hiss,  you  may  cry,  "  Well  done,  Her- 
cules !    now  thou  crushest  the  snake !  "  that  is  140 
the  way  to  make  an  offence  gracious,  though 
few  have  the  grace  to  do  it. 

Arm.  For  the  rest  of  the  Worthies? — 

Hoi.  I  will  play  three  myself. 

Moth.  Thrice-worthy  gentleman ! 

Arm.  Shall  I  tell  you  a  thing  ? 

Hoi.  We  attend. 

Arm.  We  will  have,  if  this  fadge  not,  an  antique.  I 
beseech  you,  follow. 

Hoi.  Via,  goodman  Dull!  thou  hast  spoken  no  word  150 
all  this  while. 

85 


Act  V.  Sc.  ii.  LOVE'S  LABOUR 'S  LOST 

Dull.  Nor  understood  none  neither,  sir. 

Hoi.  Allons !   we  will  employ  thee. 

Dull.  I  '11  make  one  in  a  dance,  or  so;   or  I  will  play 

On  the  tabor  to  the  Worthies,  and  let  them  dance 
the  hay. 
HoL  Most  dull,  honest  Dull !   To  our  sport,  away ! 

[Exeunt. 

Scene  H. 

The  same. 
Enter  the  Princess,  Katharine,  Rosaline,  and  Maria. 

Prin.  Sweet  hearts,  we  shall  be  rich  ere  we  depart, 
If  fairings  come  thus  plentifully  in : 
A  lady  wall'd  about  with  diamonds ! 
Lqpk  you  what  I  have  from  the  loving  king. 

Ros.  Madam,  came  nothing  else  along  with  that? 

Prin.  Nothing  but  this  !  yes,  as  much  love  in  rhyme 
As  would  be  cramm'd  up  in  a  sheet  of  paper, 
Writ  o'  both  sides  the  leaf,  margent  and  all. 
That  he  was  fain  to  seal  on  Cupid's  name. 

Ros.  That  was  the  way  to  make  his  godhead  wax,         lo 
For  he  hath  been  five  thousand  years  a  boy. 

Kath.  Ay,  and  a  shrewd  unhappy  gallows  too. 

Ros.  You  '11  ne'er  be  friends  with  him ;   a'  killed  your  sis- 
ter. 

Kath.  He  made  her  melancholy,  sad,  and  heavy; 
And  so  she  died :   had  she  been  light,  like  you, 
Of  such  a  merry,  nimble,  stirring  spirit, 
She  might  ha'  been  a  grandam  ere  she  died : 
And  so  may  you ;   for  a  light  heart  lives  long. 

Ros.  What  's  your  dark  meaning,  mouse,  of  this  light 
word? 

Kath.  A  light  condition  in  a  beauty  dark.  20 

86 


LOVE'S  LABOUR  'S  LOST  Act  V,  Sc.  ii. 

Ros.  We  need  more  light  to  find  your  meaning  out. 

Kath.  You  '11  mar  the  light  by  taking  it  in  snuff; 
Therefore  I  '11  darkly  end  the  argument. 

Ros.  Look,  what  you  do,  you  do  it  still  i'  th'  dark. 

Kath.  So  do  not  you,  for  you  are  a  light  wench. 

Ros.  Indeed  I  weigh  not  you,  and  therefore  light. 

Kath.  You  weigh  me  not  ? — 0,that  's  you  care  not  for  me. 

Ros.  Great  reason ;   for  '  past  cure  is  still  past  care.' 

Prin.  Well  bandied  both ;   a  set  of  wit  well  play'd. 

But,  Rosaline,  you  have  a  favour  too  ;  30 

Who  sent  it?   and  what  is  it? 

Ros.  T  would  you  knew : 

An  if  my  face  were  but  as  fair  as  yours, 
My  favour  were  as  great ;  be  witness  this. 
Nay,  I  have  verses  too,  I  thank  Biron : 
The  numbers  true ;  and,  were  the  numbering  too, 
I  were  the  fairest  goddess  on  the  ground : 
I  am  compared  to  twenty  thousand  fairs. 
O,  he  hath  drawn  my  picture  in  his  letter ! 

Prin.  Any  thing  like? 

Ros.  i\Iuch  in  the  letters  ;   nothing  in  the  praise.  40 

Prill.  Beauteous  as  ink ;   a  good  conclusion. 

Kath.  Fair  as  a  text  B  in  a  copy-book. 

Ros.  'Ware  pencils,  ho !   let  me  not  die  your  debtor. 
My  red  dominical,  my  golden  letter : 
O  that  your  face  were  not  so  full  of  O's ! 

Kath.  A  pox  of  that  jest !  and  I  beshrew  all  shrows. 

Prin.  But,  Katharine,  what  was  sent  to  you  from  fair 
Dumain  ? 

Kath.  Madam,  this  glove. 

Prin.  Did  he  not  send  you  twain  ? 

Kath.  Yes,  madam,  and,  moreover, 

Some  thousand  verses  of  a  faithful  lover,  50 

87 


Act  V.  Sc.  ii.  LOVE'S  LABOUR  *S  LOST 

A  huge  translation  of  hypocrisy, 
Vilely  compiled,  profound  simplicity. 

Mar.  This  and  these  pearls  to  me  sent  Longaville : 
The  letter  is  too  long  by  half  a  mile. 

Prill.  I  think  no  less.     Dost  thou  not  wish  in  heart 
The  chain  were  longer  and  the  letter  short? 

Mar.  Ay,  or  I  would  these  hands  might  never  part. 

Prin.  We  are  wise  girls  to  mock  our  lovers  so. 

Ros.  They  are  worse  fools  to  purchase  mocking  so. 

That  same  Biron  I  '11  torture  ere  I  go :  60 

O  that  I  knew  he  were  but  in  by  the  week ! 

How  I  would  make  him  fawn,  and  beg,  and  seek, 

And  wait  the  season,  and  observe  the  times. 

And  spend  his  prodigal  wits  in  bootless  rhymes, 

And  shape  his  service  wholly  to  my  bests, 

And  make  him  proud  to  make  me  proud  that  jests ! 

So  perttaunt-like  would  I  o'ersway  his  state. 

That  he  should  be  my  fool,  and  I  his  fate. 

Prin.  None  are  so  surely  caught,  when  they  are  catch'd, 
As  wit  turn'd  fool :  folly,  in  wisdom  hatch'd,  70 

Hath  wisdom's  warrant  and  the  help  of  school, 
And  wit's  own  grace  to  grace  a  learned  fool. 

Ros.  The  blood  of  youth  burns  not  with  such  excess 
As  gravity's  revolt  to  wantonness. 

Mar.  Folly  in  fools  bears  not  so  strong  a  note 
As  foolery  in  the  wise,  when  wit  doth  dote ; 
Since  all  the  power  thereof  it  doth  apply 
To  prove,  by  wit,  worth  in  simplicity. 

Prin.  Here  comes  Boyet,  and  mirth  is  in  his  face. 

Enter  Boyet. 

Boyet.  O,   I   am   stabb'd   with   laughter!     Where's  her 
grace  ? 


LOVE'S  LABOUR  'S  LOST  Act  V.  Sc.  ii. 

Prill.  Thy  news,  Boyet  ? 

Boyct.  Prepare,  madam,  prepare !         8i 

Arm,  wenches,  arm !   encounters  mounted  are 
Against  your  peace :   Love  doth  approach  disguised, 
Armed  in  arguments  ;  you  '11  be  surprised  : 
Muster  your  wits  ;    stand  in  your  own  defence  ; 
Or  hide  your  heads  like  cowards,  and  fly  hence. 

Prin.  Saint  Denis  to  Saint  Cupid !     What  are  they 

That  charge  their  breath  against  us  ?   say,  scout,  say. 

Boyet.  Lender  the  cool  shade  of  a  sycamore 

I  thought  to  close  mine  eyes  some  half  an  hour ;     90 

When,  lo !   to  interrupt  my  purposed  rest, 

Toward  that  shade  I  might  behold  addrest 

The  king  and  his  companions :    warily 

I  stole  into  a  neighbour  thicket  by, 

And  overheard  what  you  shall  overhear; 

That,  by  and  by,  disguised  they  will  be  here. 

Their  herald  is  a  pretty  knavish  page. 

That  well  by  heart  hath  conn'd  his  embassage : 

Action  and  accent  did  they  teach  him  there ; 

*  Thus  must  thou  speak,'  and  '  thus  thy  body  bear : ' 

And  ever  and  anon  they  made  a  doubt  loi 

Presence  majestical  would  put  him  out; 

'  For,'  quoth  the  king,  '  an  angel  shalt  thou  see ; 

Yet  fear  not  thou,  but  speak  audaciously.' 

The  boy  replied,  '  An  angel  is  not  evil ; 

I  should  have  fear'd  her,  had  she  been  a  devil.' 

With    that,  all    laugh'd,  and    clapped    him    on    the 

shoulder. 
Making  the  bold  wag  by  their  praises  bolder : 
One  rubb'd  his  elbow  thus,  and  fleer'd  and  swore 
A  better  speech  was  never  spoke  before ;  i  lO 

89 


Act  V.  Sc.  ii.  LOVE'S  LABOUR  'S  LOST 

Another,  with  his  finger  and  his  thumb, 
Cried,  '  Via !  we  will  do  't  come  what  will  come ; ' 
The  third  he  caper'd,  and  cried,  '  All  goes  well ;' 
The  fourth  turn'd  on  the  toe,  and  down  he  fell. 
With  that,  they  all  did  tumble  on  the  ground, 
With  such  a  zealous  laughter,  so  profound, 
That  in  this  spleen  ridiculous  appears. 
To  check  their  folly,  passion's  solemn  tears. 

Prin,  But  what,  but  what,  come  they  to  visit  us? 

Boyet,  They  do,  they  do ;  and  are  apparell'd  thus,         120 
Like  Muscovites  or  Russians,  as  I  guess. 
Their  purpose  is  to  parle,  to  court  and  dance; 
And  every  one  his  love-feat  will  advance 
Unto  his  several  mistress,  which  they  '11  know 
By  favours  several  which  they  did  bestow. 

Prin.  And  will  they  so?  the  gallaifts  shall  be  task'd; 
For,  ladies,  we  will  every  one  be  mask'd ; 
And  not  a  man  of  them  shall  have  the  grace. 
Despite  of  suit,  to  see  a  lady's  face. 
Hold,  Rosaline,  this  favour  thou  shalt  wear,         130 
And  then  the  king  will  court  thee  for  his  dear ; 
Hold,  take  thou  this,  my  sweet,  and  give  me  thine. 
So  shall  Biron  take  me  for  Rosaline. 
And  change  you  favours  too ;   so  shall  your  loves 
Woo  contrary,  deceived  by  these  removes. 

Ros.  Come  on,  then ;   wear  the  favours  most  in  sight. 

Kath.  But  in  this  changing  what  is  your  intent? 

Prin.  The  effect  of  my  intent  is  to  cross  theirs : 
They  do  it  but  in  mocking  merriment ; 
And  mock  for  mock  is  only  my  intent.  140 

Their  several  counsels  they  unbosom  shall 
To  loves  mistook,  and  so  be  mock'd  withal 

90 


LOVE'S  LABOUR  *S  LOST  Act  V.  Sc.  ii. 

Upon  the  next  occasion  that  we  meet, 

With  visages  display'd,  to  talk  and  greet. 
Ros.  But  shall  we  dance,  if  they  desire  us  to  't? 
Prill.  No,  to  the  death,  we  will  not  move  a  foot : 

Nor  to  their  penn'd  speech  render  we  no  grace  ; 

But  while  'tis  spoke  each  turn  away  her  face. 
Boyet.  Why,  that  contempt  will  kill  the  speaker's  heart. 

And  quite  divorce  his  memory  from  his  part.         150 
Prin.  Therefore  I  do  it ;   and  I  make  no  doubt 

The  rest  will  ne'er  come  in,  if  he  be  out. 

There  's  no  such  sport  as  sport  by  sport  overthrown ; 

To  make  theirs  ours,  and  ours  none  but  our  own : 

So  shall  we  stay,  mocking  intended  game, 

And  they,  well  mock'd,  depart  away  with  shame. 

[Trumpet  sounds  within. 
Boyet.  The  trumpet  sounds :   be  mask'd ;    the  mask- 
ers come.  [The  ladies  mask. 

Enter  Blackamoors  with  music;  Moth;  the  King,  Biron, 
Longaville,  and  Dumain,  in  Russian  habits  and  masked. 

Moth.  All  hail,  the  richest  beauties  on  the  earth ! — 
Boyet.  Beauties  no  richer  than  rich  taffeta. 
Moth.  A  holy  parcel  of  the  fairest  dames.  160 

[The  ladies  turn  their  hacks  to  him. 

That  ever  turn'd  their — backs— to  mortal  views ! 
Biron.    [Aside  to  Moth]   Their  eyes,  villain,  their  eyes. 
Moth.  That  ever  turn'd  their  eyes  to  mortal  views  !— 

Out— 
Boyet.  True;   out  indeed. 
Moth.  Out  of  your  favours,  heavenly  spirits,  vouchsafe 

Not  to  behold — 
Biron.   [Aside  to  Moth]  Once  to  behold,  rogue. 

91 


Act  V.  Sc.  ii.  LOVrS  LABOUR  *S  LOST 

Moth.  Once  to  behold  with  your  sun-beamed  eyes, 

with  your  sun-beamed  eyes — 

Boyet.  They  will  not  answer  to  that  epithet;  170 

You  were  best  call  it  '  daughter-beamed  eyes.' 
Moth.  They  do  not  mark  me,  and  that  brings  me  out. 
Biron.  Is  this  your  perfectness  ?   be  gone,  you  rogue ! 

[Exit  Moth. 
Ros.  What  would  these  strangers?    know  their  minds, 
Boyet : 

If  they  do  speak  our  language,  'tis  our  will 

That  some  plain  man  recount  their  purposes : 

Know  what  they  would. 
Boyet.  What  would  you  with  the  princess? 
Biron.  Nothing  but  peace  and  gentle  visitation. 
Ros.  What  would  they,  say  they?  180 

Boyet.  Nothing  but  peace  and  gentle  visitation. 
Ros.  Why,  that  they  have ;  and  bid  them  so  be  gone.     • 
Boyet.  She  says,  you  have  it,  and  you  may  be  gone. 
Kijtg.  Say  to  her,  we  have  measured  many  miles 

To  tread  a  measure  with  her  on  this  grass. 
Boyet.  They  say,  that  they  have  measured  many  a  mile 

To  tread  a  measure  with  you  on  this  grass. 
Ros.  It  is  not  so.    Ask  them  how  many  inches 

Is  in  one  mile :   if  they  have  measured  many. 

The  measure  then  of  one  is  easily  told.  190 

Boyet.  If  to  come  hither  you  have  measured  miles, 

And  many  miles,  the  princess  bids  you  tell 

How  many  inches  doth  fill  up  one  mile. 
Biron.  Tell  her,  we  measure  them  by  weary  steps. 
Boyet.  She  hears  herself. 
Ros.  How  many  weary  steps, 

Of  many  weary  miles  you  have  o'ergone, 

Are  number'd  in  the  travel  of  one  mile? 

92 


LOVE'S  LABOUR  'S  LOST  Act  V.  Sc.  ii. 

Biron.  We  number  nothing  that  we  spend  for  you : 

Our  duty  is  so  rich,  so  infinite, 

That  we  may  do  it  still  without  accompt.  200 

Vouchsafe  to  show  the  sunshine  of  your  face, 

That  we,  like  savages,  may  worship  it. 
Ros,  My  face  is  but  a  moon,  and  clouded  too. 
King.  Blessed  are  clouds,  to  do  as  such  clouds  do ! 

Vouchsafe,  bright  moon,  and  these  thy  stars,  to  shine. 

Those  clouds  removed,  upon  our  watery  eyne. 
Ros.  O  vain  petitioner !   beg  a  greater  matter  ; 

Thou  now  request'st  but  moonshine  in  the  water. 
King.  Then,  in  our  measure  do  but  vouchsafe  one  change. 

Thou  bid'st  me  beg :  this  begging  is  not  strange.  210 
Ros.  Play,  music,  then !    Nay,  you  must  do  it  soon. 

[Music  plays. 

Not  yet !  no  dance !    Thus  change  I  like  the  moon. 
King.  Will    you    not    dance?     How    come    you     thus 

estranged  ? 
Ros.  You  took  the  moon  at  full,  but  now  she  's  changed. 
King.  Yet  still  she  is  the  moon,  and  I  the  man. 

The  music  plays;   vouchsafe  some  motion  to  it. 
Ros.  Our  ears  vouchsafe  it. 

King.  But  your  legs  should  do  it. 

Ros.  Since  you  are  strangers,  and  come  here  by  chance. 

We  '11  not  be  nice :   take  hands.     We  will  not  dance. 
King.  Why  take  we  hands,  then  ? 
Ros.  Only  to  part  friends  :  220 

Curtsey,  sweet  hearts ;  and  so  the  measure  ends. 
King.  More  measure  of  this  measure  ;  be  not  nice. 
Ros.  We  can  afford  no  more  at  such  a  price. 
King.  Prize  you  yourselves :    what  buys  your  company  ? 
Ros.  Your  absence  only. 
King,  That  can  never  be. 

93 


Act  V.  Sc.  ii.  LOVE'S  LABOUR  *S  LOST 

Ros.  Then  cannot  we  be  bought :  and  so,  adieu ; 

Twice  to  your  visor,  and  half  once  to  you. 
King.  If  you  deny  to  dance,  let 's  hold  more  chat. 
Ros.  In  private,  then. 
King.  I  am  best  pleased  with  that. 

[They  converse  apart. 
Biron.  White-handed    mistress,    one    sweet    word    with 

thee. 
Prin.  Honey,  and  milk,  and  sugar;   there  is  three.       231 
Biron.  Nay  then,  two  treys,  an  if  you  grow  so  nice, 

Metheglin,  wort,  and  malmsey :   well  run,  dice ! 

There  's  half-a-dozen  sweets. 
Prin.  Seventh  sweet,  adieu; 

Since  you  can  cog,  I  '11  play  no  more  with  you. 
Biron.  One  word  in  secret. 
Prin.  Let  it  not  be  sweet. 

Biron.  Thou  grievest  my  gall. 
Prin.  Gall!  bitter. 

Biron.  Therefore  meet.' 

[They  converse  apart. 
Diiin.  Will  you  vouchsafe  with  me  to  change  a  word  ? 
Mar.  Name  it. 
Dum.  Fair  lady, — 

Mar.  Say  you  so !   Fair  lord, — 

Take  that  for  your  fair  lady. 
Dum.  Please  it  you,  240 

As  much  in  private,  and  I  '11  bid  adieu. 

[They  converse  apart. 
Kath.  What,  was  your  vizard  made  without  a  tongue? 
Long.  I  know  the  reason,  lady,  why  you  ask. 
Kath.  O  for  your  reason !   quickly,  sir ;   I  long. 
Long.  You  have  a  double  tongue  within  your  mask, 

And  would  afford  my  speechless  vizard  half. 

94 


LOVE'S  LABOUR  *S  LOST  Act  V.  Sc.  ii. 

Kath.  Veal,  quoth  the  Dutchman.     Is  not  'veal'  a  calf? 

Long.  A  calf,  fair  lady! 

Kath.  No,  a  fair  lord  calf. 

Long.  Let 's  part  the  word. 

Kath.  No,  I  '11  not  be  your  half  : 

Take  all,  and  wean  it;   it  may  prove  an  ox.  250 

Long.  Look,  how  you  butt  yourself  in  these  sharp  mocks ! 

Will  you  give  horns,  chaste  lady  ?   do  not  so. 
Kath.  Then  die  a  calf,  before  your  horns  do  grow. 
Long.  One  word  in  private  with  you,  ere  I  die. 
Kath.  Bleat  softly,  then ;   the  butcher  hears  you  cry. 

[They  converse  apart. 
Boyet.  The  tongues  of  mocking  wenches  are  as  keen 
As  is  the  razor's  edge  invisible. 
Cutting  a  smaller  hair  than  may  be  seen ; 

Above  the  sense  of  sense ;   so  sensible 
Seemeth  their  conference ;   their  conceits  have  wings 
Fleeter  than  arrows,  bullets,  wind,  thought,  swifter 
things.  261 

Ros.  Not  one  word  more,  my  maids ;  break  off,  break  off. 
Biron.  By  heaven,  all  dry-beaten  with  pure  scoff ! 
King.  Farewell,  mad  wenches ;   you  have  simple  wits. 
Prin.  Twenty  adieus,  my  frozen  Muscovits. 

[Exeunt  King,  Lords,  and  Blackamoors. 
Are  these  the  breed  of  wits  so  wonder'd  at  ? 
Boyet.  Tapers  they  are,  with  your  sweet  breaths  puff'd 

out, 
Ros.  Well-liking  wits  they  have  ;  gross,  gross  ;  fat,  fat. 
Prin.  O  poverty  in  wit,  kingly-poor  flout ! 

Will  they  not,  think  you,  hang  themselves  to-night? 
Or  ever,  but  in  vizards,  show  their  faces?  271 

This  pert  Biron  was  out  of  countenance  quite. 
Ros.  O,  they  were  all  in  lamentable  cases. 

95 


Act  V.  Sc.  ii.  LOVE'S  LABOUR  'S  LOST 

The  king  was  weeping-ripe  for  a  good  word. 

Prin.  Biron  did  swear  himself  out  of  all  suit. 

Mar.  Dumain  was  at  my  service,  and  his  sword : 

No  point,  quoth  I ;   my  servant  straight  was  mute. 

Kath.  Lord  Longaville  said,  I  came  o'er  his  heart; 
And  trow  you  what  he  call'd  me  ? 

Prin.  Qualm,  perhaps. 

Kath.  Yes,  in  good  faith. 

Prin.  Go,  sickness  as  thou  art !       280 

Ros.  Well,  better  wits  have  worn  plain  statute-caps. 
But  will  you  hear?  the  king  is  my  love  sworn. 

Prin.  And  quick  Biron  hath  plighted  faith  to  me. 

Kath.  And  Longaville  was  for  my  service  born. 

Mar.  Dumain  is  mine,  as  sure  as  bark  on  tree. 

Boyet.  Madam,  and  pretty  mistresses,  give  ear: 
Immediately  they  will  again  be  here 
In  their  own  shapes  ;  for  it  can  never  be 
They  will  digest  this  harsh  indignity. 

Prin.  Will  they  return  ? 

Boyet.  They  will,  they  will,  God  knows,  290 

And  leap  for  joy,  though  they  are  lame  with  blows: 
Therefore  change  favours ;   and,  when  they  repair. 
Blow  like  sweet  roses  in  this  summer  air. 

Prin.  How  blow  ?  how  blow  ?   speak  to  be  understood. 

Boyet.  Fair  ladies  mask'd  are  roses  in  their  bud ; 

Dismask'd,  their  damask  sweet  commixture  shown. 
Are  angels  vailing  clouds,  or  roses  blown. 

Prin.  Avaunt,  perplexity!     What  shall  we  do, 
If  they  return  in  their  own  shapes  to  woo  ? 

Ros.  Good  madam,  if  by  me  you  '11  be  advised,  300 

Let  's  mock  them  still,  as  well  known  as  disguised : 
Let  us  complain  to  them  what  fools  were  here, 

96 


LOVE'S  LABOUR  *S  LOST  Act  V.  Sc.  ii. 

Disguised  like  Muscovites,  in  shapeless  gear ; 
And  wonder  what  they  were  and  to  what  end 
Their  shallow  shows  and  prologue  vilely  penn'd, 
And  their  rough  carriage  so  ridiculous, 
Should  be  presented  at  our  tent  to  us. 

Boyet.  Ladies,  withdraw :  the  gallants  are  at  hand. 

Prin.  Whip  to  our  tents,  as  roes  run  o'er  land. 

[Exeunt  Princess,  Rosaline,  Katharine,  and  Maria. 

Re-enter  the  King,  Biron,  Longaville,  and  Dumain, 
in  their  proper  habits. 

King.  Fair  sir,  God  save  you !    Where  's  the  princess  ? 

Boyet.  Gone  to  her  tent.    Please  it  your  majesty  311 

Command  me  any  service  to  her  thither? 

King.  That  she  vouchsafe  me  audience  for  one  word. 

Boyet,  I  will ;  and  so  will  she,  I  know,  my  lord.         [Exit. 

Biron.  This  fellow  pecks  up  wit  as  pigeons  pease, 
And  utters  it  again  when  God  doth  please: 
He  is  wit's  pedler,  and  retails  his  wares 
At  wakes  and  wassails,  meetings,  markets,  fairs ; 
And  we  that  sell  by  gross,  the  Lord  doth  know. 
Have  not  the  grace  to  grace  it  with  such  show.     320 
This  gallant  pins  the  wenches  on  his  sleeve ; 
Had  he  been  Adam,  he  had  tempted  Eve ; 
A'  can  carve  too,  and  lisp :  why,  this  is  he 
That  kiss'd  his  hand  away  in  courtesy ; 
This  is  the  ape  of  form,  monsieur  the  nice. 
That,  when  he  plays  at  tables,  chides  the  dice 
In  honourable  terms :  nay,  he  can  sing 
A  mean  most  meanly ;   and  in  ushering. 
Mend  him  who  can :  the  ladies  call  him  sweet ; 
The  stairs,  as  he  treads  on  them,  kiss  his  feet :        330 

97 


Act  V.  Sc.  ii.  LOVE'S  LABOUR  'S  LOST 

This  is  the  flower  that  smiles  on  every  one, 
To  show  his  teeth  as  white  as  whale's  bone ; 
And  consciences,  that  will  not  die  in  debt, 
Pay  him  the  due  of  honey-tongued  Boyet. 

King.  A  blister  on  his  sweet  tongue,  with  my  heart. 
That  put  Armado's  page  out  of  his  part ! 

Biron.  See  where  it  comes !   Behaviour,  what  wert  thou 
Till  this  madman  show'd  thee?    and  what  art  thou 
now? 

Re-enter    the    Princess,  ushered    by    Boyet;    Rosaline, 
Maria,  and  Katharine. 

King.  All  hail,  sweet  madam,  and  fair  time  of  day ! 
Prin.  '  Fair  '  in  '  all  hail '  is  foul,  as  I  conceive.  340 

King.  Construe  my  speeches  better,  if  you  may. 
Prin,  Then  wish  me  better ;   I  will  give  you  leave. 
King.  We  came  to  visit  you,  and  purpose  now 

To  lead  you  to  our  court :   vouchsafe  it  then. 
Prin.  This  field  shall  hold  me :  and  so  hold  your  vow : 

Nor  God,  nor  I,  delights  in  perjured  men. 
King.  Rebuke  me  not  for  that  which  you  provoke : 

The  virtue  of  your  eye  must  break  my  oath. 
Prin.  You  nickname  virtue ;  vice  you  should  have  spoke ; 
For  virtue's  office  never  breaks  men's  troth.       350 

Now  by  my  maiden  honour  yet  as  pure 
As  the  unsullied  lily  I  protest, 

A  world  of  torments  though  I  should  endure, 
I  would  not  yield  to  be  your  house's  guest ; 

So  much  I  hate  a  breaking  cause  to  be 

Of  heavenly  oaths,  vow'd  with  integrity. 
King.  O,  you  have  lived  in  desolation  here, 

Unseen,  unvisited,  much  to  our  shame. 
Prin.  Not  so,  my  lord ;   it  is  not  so,  I  swear ; 

98 


LOVE'S  LABOUR  'S  LOST  Act  V.  Sc.  ii. 

We  have  had  pastimes  here  and  pleasant  game : 

A  mess  of  Russians  left  us  but  of  late.  361 

King.  How,  madam  !    Russians  !     yY — 

Prin.  Ay,  in  truth,  my  lord  ; 

Trim  gallants,  full  of  courtship  and  of  state. 

Ros.  Madam,  speak  true.     It  is  not  so,  my  lord: 
My  lady,  to  the  manner  of  the  days. 
In  courtesy  gives  undeserving  praise. 
We  four  indeed  confronted  were  with  four 
In  Russian  habit :   here  they  stay'd  an  hour, 
And  talk'd  apace ;   and  in  that  hour,  my  lord. 
They  did  not  bless  us  with  one  happy  word.  370 

I  dare  not  call  them  fools ;   but  this  I  think. 
When  they  are  thirsty,  fools  would  fain  have  drink. 

Biron.  This  jest  is  dry  to  me.     Fair  gentle  sweet. 

Your  wit  makes  wise  things  foolish :  when  we  greet, 

With  eyes  best  seeing,  heaven's  fiery  eye. 

By  light  we  lose  light :   your  capacity 

Is  of  that  nature  that  to  your  huge  store 

Wise  things  seem  foolish  and  rich  things  but  poor. 

Ros.  This  proves  you  wise  and  rich,  for  in  my  eye, — 

Biron.  I  am  a  fool,  and  full  of  poverty.  380 

Ros.  But  that  you  take  what  doth  to  you  belong. 

It  were  a  fault  to  snatch  words  from  my  tongue. 

Biron.  O,  I  am  yours,  and  all  that  I  possess ! 

Ros.  All  the  fool  mine  ? 

Biron.  I  cannot  give  you  less. 

Ros.  Which  of  the  vizards  was  it  that  you  wore  ? 

Biron.  Where?    when?    what  vizard?    why  demand  you 
this  ? 

Ros.  There,  then,  that  vizard ;  that  superfluous  case 
That  hid  the  worse,  and  show'd  the  better  face. 

99 


Act  V.  Sc.  ii.  LOVE'S  LABOUR  'S  LOST 

Kdng.  We  are   descried;   they'll   mock   us   now   down- 
right. 

Dum.  Let  us  confess,  and  turn  it  to  a  jest.  390 

Prin.  Amazed,  my  lord  ?   why  looks  your  highness  sad  ? 
Ros,  Help,  hold  his  brows !    he  '11  swound !     Why  look 
you  pale  ? 
Sea-sick,  I  think,  coming  from  Muscovy. 
Biron.  Thus  pour  the  stars  down  plagues  for  perjury. 
Can  any  face  of  brass  hold  longer  out  ? 
Here  stand  I :  lady,  dart  thy  skill  at  me ; 

Bruise  me  with  scorn,  confound  me  with  a  flout ; 
Thrust  thy  sharp  wit  quite  through  my  ignorance ; 

Cut  me  to  pieces  with  thy  keen  conceit  ; 
And  I  will  wish  thee  never  more  to  dance,  400 

Nor  never  more  in  Russian  habit  wait. 
O,  never  w411  I  trust  to  speeches  penn'd. 

Nor  to  the  motion  of  a  schoolboy's  tongue ; 
Nor  never  come  in  vizard  to  my  friend ; 

Nor  woo  in  rhyme,  Hke  a  blind  harper's  song ! 
Taffeta  phrases,  silken  terms  precise, 

Three-piled  hyperboles,  spruce  affectation, 
Figures  pedantical ;  these  summer-flies 

Have  blown  me  full  of  maggot  ostentation : 
I  do  forswear  them ;   and  I  here  protest,  410 

By  this  white  glove, — how  white  the  hand,  God 
knows ! — 
Henceforth  my  wooing  mind  shall  be  express'd 

In  russet  yeas,  and  honest  kersey  noes : 
And,  to  begin,  wench, — so  God  help  me,  la ! — 
My  love  to  thee  is  sound,  sans  crack  or  flaw. 
Ros.  Sans  sans,  I  pray  you. 
Biron.  Yet  I  have  a  trick 

Of  the  old  rage : — bear  with  me,  I  am  sick ; 
100 


LOVE'S  LABOUR  'S  LOST  Act  V.  Sc.  ii. 

I  '11  leave  it  by  degrees.    Soft,  let  us  see : 

Write,  '  Lord  have  mercy  on  us  '  on  those  three  ; 

They  are  infected ;   in  their  hearts  it  lies  ;  420 

They  have  the  plague,  and  caught  it  of  your  eyes ; 

These  lords  are  visited ;  you  are  not  free. 

For  the  Lord's  tokens  on  you  do  I  see. 
Prin,  No,  they  are  free  that  gave  these  tokens  to  us. 
Biron.  Our  states  are  forfeit :  seek  not  to  undo  us. 
Ros.  It  is  not  so ;   for  how  can  this  be  true. 

That  you  stand  forfeit,  being  those  that  sue  ? 
Biron.  Peace !   for  I  will  not  have  to  do  with  you. 
Ros.  Nor  shall  not,  if  I  do  as  I  intend. 
Biron.  Speak  for  yourselves  ;   my  wit  is  at  an  end.       430 
King.  Teach  us,  sweet  madam,  for  our  rude  transgression 

Some  fair  excuse. 
Prin.  The  fairest  is  confession. 

Were  not  you  here  but  even  now  disguised  ? 
King.  Madam,  I  was. 

Prin.  And  were  you  well  advised  ? 

King.  I  was,  fair  madam. 
Prin.  When  you  then  were  here, 

What  did  you  whisper  in  your  lady's  ear? 
King.  That  more  than  all  the  world  I  did  respect  her. 
Prin.  When  she  shall  challenge  this,  you  will  reject  her. 
King.  Upon  mine  honour,  no. 
Prin.  Peace,  peace !    forbear : 

Your  oath  once  broke,  you  force  not  to  forswear.  440 
King.  Despise  me,  when  I  break  this  oath  of  mine. 
Prin.  I  will :  and  therefore  keep  it.     Rosaline, 

What  did  the  Russian  whisper  in  your  ear? 
Ros.  Madam,  he  swore  that  he  did  hold  me  dear 

As  precious  eyesight,  and  did  value  me 

lOI 


Act  V.  Sc.  ii.  LOVE'S  LABOUR  'S  LOST 

Above  this  world ;   adding  thereto,  moreover, 

That  he  would  wed  me,  or  else  die  my  lover. 
Priu.  God  give  thee  joy  of  him !   the  noble  lord 

Most  honourably  doth  uphold  his  word. 
King.  What  mean  you,  madam  ?  by  my  life,  my  troth,  450 

I  never  swore  this  lady  such  an  oath. 
Ros. ,  By  heaven,  you  did  ;  and  to  confirm  it  plain, 

You  gave  me  this :   but  take  it,  sir,  again. 
King.  My  faith  and  this  the  princess  I  did  give : 

I  knew  her  by  this  jewel  on  her  sleeve. 
Prin.  Pardon  me,  sir,  this  jewel  did  she  wear; 

And  Lord  Biron,  I  thank  him,  is  my  dear. 

What,  will  you  have  me,  or  your  pearl  again  ? 
Biron.  Neither  of  either  ;  I  remit  both  twain. 

I  see  the  trick  on  't :   here  was  a  consent,  460 

Knowing  aforehand  of  our  merriment, 

To  dash  it  like  a  Christmas  comedy : 

Some  carry-tale,  some  please-man,  some  slight  zany, 

Some    mumble-news,    some    trencher-knight,    some 
Dick, 
j  i      That  smiles  his  cheek  in  years,  and  knows  the  trick 
!  \     To  make  my  lady  laugh  when  she  's  disposed, 
\   Told  our  intents  before ;   which  once  disclosed, 
\  The  ladies  did  change  favours ;  and  then  we, 
\Following  the  signs,  woo'd  but  the  sign  of  she. 

Wow,  to  our  perjury  to  add  more  terror,  470 

We  are  again  forsworn,  in  will  and  error. 

Much  upon  this  it  is  :  and  might  not  you   [To  Boyet. 

Forestall  our  sport,  to  make  us  thus  untrue? 

Do  not  you  know  my  lady's  foot  by  the  squier, 
And  laugh  upon  the  apple  of  her  eye  ? 

And  stand  between  her  back,  sir,  and  the  fire, 
I       Holding  a  trencher,  jesting  merrily  ? 

102 


LOVE'S  LABOUR  'S  LOST  Act  V.  Sc.  ii. 

You  put  our  page  out :   go,  you  are  allow'd ; 

Die  when  you  will,  a  smock  shall  be  your  shroud. 

You  leer  upon  me,  do  you  ?   there  's  an  eye  480 

Wounds  like  a  leaden  sword. 
Boyet.  Full  merrily 

Hath  this  brave  manage,  this  career,  been  run. 
5tron.  Lo,  he  is  tilting  straight!    Peace!    I  have  done. 

Enter  Costard. 

Welcome,  pure  wit !   thou  part'st  a  fair  fray. 
Cost.  O  Lord,  sir,  they  would  know 

Whether  the  three  Worthies  shall  come  in  or  no. 
Biron.  What,  are  there  but  three? 
(;^^f^  No,  sir ;  but  it  is  vara  fine, 

For  every  one  pursents  three. 
Biron.  And  three  times  thrice  is  nine. 

Cost.  Not  so,  sir ;   under  correction,  sir ;   I  hope  it  is  not 
so. 
You  cannot  beg  us,  sir,  I  can  assure  you,  sir ;    we 
know  what  we  know:  49° 

I  hope,  sir,  three  times  thrice,  sir, — 
Biron.  Is  not  nine. 
Cost.  Under  correction,  sir,  we  know  whereuntil  it 

doth  amount. 
Biron,  By  Jove,  I  always  took  three  threes  for  nine. 
Cost.  O  Lord,  sir,  it  were  pity  you  should  get  your 

living  by  reckoning,  sir. 
Biron.  How  much  is  it? 
Cost.  O  Lord,  sir,  the  parties  themselves,  the  actors, 

sir,  will  show  whereuntil  it  doth  amount:    for  500 
mine  own  part,  I  am,  as  they  say,  but  to  parfect 
one  man  in  one  poor  man,  Pompion  the  Great, 
sir. 

103 


Act  V.  Sc.  ii.  LOVE'S  LABOUR  *S  LOST 

Biron.  Art  thou  one  of  the  Worthies  ? 

Cost.  It  pleased  them  to  think  me  worthy  of  Pompion 
the  Great :  for  mine  own  part,  I  know  not  the 
degree  of  the  Worthy,  but  I  am  to  stand  for 
him. 

Biron.  Go,  bid  them  prepare. 

Cost.  We  will  turn  it  finely  off,  sir;    we  will  take  some 
care.  [Exit.  510 

King.  Biron,  they  will  shame  us :   let  them  not  approach. 

Biron.  We  are  shame-proof, my  lord :  and  'tis  some  policy 
To  have  one  show  worse  than  the  king's  and  his 
company. 

King.  I  say  they  shall  not  come. 

Prin.  Nay,  my  good  lord,  let  me  o'errule  you  now : 
That  sport  best  pleases  that  doth  least  know  how : 
Where  zeal  strives  to  content,  and  the  contents 
Dies  in  the  zeal  of  that  which  it  presents : 
Their  form  confounded  make  most  form  in  mirth, 
When  great  things  labouring  perish  in  theirbirth.  520 

Biron.  A  right  description  of  our  sport,  my  lord. 

Enter  Armado. 

Arm.  Anointed,  I  implore  so  much  expense  of  thy 
royal  sweet  breath  as  will  utter  a  brace  of 
words. 

[Converses  apart  zvith  the  King,  and  delivers  him  a  paper. 

Prin.  Doth  this  man  serve  God? 

Biron.  Why  ask  you? 

Prin.  He  speaks  not  like  a  man  of  God's  making. 

Arm.  That  is  all  one,  my  fair,  sweet,  honey  monarch ; 
for,    I  protest,    the    schoolmaster    is    exceeding 
fantastical;   to®  too  vain,  too  too  vain:   but  we  530 
104 


LOVE'S  LABOUR  'S  LOST  Act  V.  Sc.  ii. 

will  put  it,  as  they  say,,  to  fortuna  de  la  guerra.  I 
wish  you  the  peace  of  mind,  most  royal  couple- 
ment !  [Exit, 

King.  Here  is  like  to  be  a  good  presence  of  Worthies. 
He  presents  Hector  of  Troy ;  the  swain,  Pompey 
the  Great;  the  parish  curate,  Alexander; 
Armado's  page,  Hercules ;  the  pedant,  Judas 
Maccabseus : 

And  if  these  four  Worthies  in  their  first  show  thrive. 

These  four  will  change  habits,  and  present  the  other 

five.  540 

Biron.  There  is  five  in  the  first  show. 

King.  You  are  deceived ;   'tis  not  so. 

Biron.  The  pedant,  the  braggart,  the  hedge-priest, 
the  fool  and  the  boy : — 

Abate  throw  at  novum,  and  the  whole  world  again 
Cannot  pick  out  five  such,  take  each  one  in  his  vein. 

King.  The  ship  is  under  sail,  and  here  she  comes  amain. 

Enter  Costard,  for  Pompey. 

Cost.  I  Pompey  am, — 

Boyet.  You  lie,  you  are  not  he. 

Cost.  I  Pompey  am, — 

Boyet.  With  libbard's  head  on  knee. 

Biron.  Well  said,  old  mocker :   I  must  needs  be  friends 

with  thee.  550 

Cost.  I  Pompey  am,  Pompey  surnamed  the  Big, — 
Diun.  The  Great. 
Cost.  It  is,  '  Great,'  sir  : — 

Pompey  surnamed  the  Great ; 
That  oft  in  field,  with  targe  and  shield,  did  make  my 

foe  to  sweat : 

105 


Act  V.  Sc.  ii.  LOVE'S  LABOUR  'S  LOST 

And  travelling  along  this  coast,  I  here  am  come  by 

chance, 
And  lay  my  arms  before  the  legs  of  this  sweet  lass  of 

France. 
If  your  ladyship  would  say,  '  Thanks,  Pompey,'  I  had 
done. 
Frin.  Great  thanks,  Great  Pompey. 
Cost.  'Tis  not  so  much  worth ;  but  I  hope  I  was  per- 
fect :   I  made  a  little  fault  in  '  Great.'  560 
Biron.  My  hat  to  a  halfpenny,  Pompey  proves  the 
best  Worthy. 

Enter  Sir  Nathaniel,  for  Alexander. 

Nath.  When   in   the   world   I   lived,    I   was   the   world's 
commander ; 
By  east,  west,  north,  and  south,  I  spread  my  con- 
quering might : 
My  scutcheon  plain  declares  that  I  am  Alisander, — 

Boyet.  Your  nose  says,  no,  you  are  not ;   for  it  stands  too 
right. 

Biron.  Your  nose  smells  '  no  '  in  this,  most  tender-smell- 
ing knight. 

Prin.  The  conqueror  is  dismay'd.     Proceed,  good  Alex- 
ander. 

Nath.  When   in   the  w^orld   I   lived,   I   was  the   world's 
commander, — 

Boyet.  Alost  true,  'tis  right ;   you  were  so,  Alisander.  570 

Biron.  Pompey  the  Great, — 

Cost.  Your  servant,  and  Costard. 

Biron.  Take  away  the  conqueror,  take  away  Alis- 
ander. 

Cost.    [To  Sir  Nath.]     O,  sir,  you  have  overthrown 

106 


LOVE'S  LABOUR  'S  LOST  Act  V.  Sc.  ii. 

Alisander  the  conqueror!  You  will  be  scraped 
out  of  the  painted  cloth  for  this:  your  Hon, 
that  holds  his  poll-axe  sitting  on  a  close-stool, 
will  be  given  to  Ajax:  he  will  be  the  ninth 
Worthy.  A  conqueror,  and  afeard  to  speak!  580 
run  away  for  shame,  Alisander.  [Nath.  retires . 
There,  an 't  shall  please  you;  a  fooUsh  mild 
man  ;  an  honest  man,  look  you,  and  soon  dashed. 
He  is  a  marvellous  good  neighbour,  faith,  and  a 
very  good  bowler  :  but,  for  Alisander, — alas,  you 
see  how  'tis, — a  little  o'erparted.  But  there  are 
Worthies  a-coming  will  speak  their  mind  in  some 
other  sort. 
Frill.  Stand  aside,  good  Pompey. 

Enter  Holof ernes,  for  Judas;  and  Moth,  for  Hercides. 

Hoi  Great  Hercules  is  presented  by  this  imp,  590 

Whose  club  kill'd  Cerberus,  that  three-headed  canis  ; 

And  when  he  was  a  babe,  a  child,  a  shrimp. 
Thus  did  he  strangle  serpents  in  his  manus. 

Quoniam  he  seemeth  in  minority. 

Ergo  I  come  with  this  apology. 

Keep  some  state  in  thy  exit,and  vanish.    [Moth  retires. 

Judas  I  am, — 
Dum.  A  Judas ! 
HoL  Not  Iscariot,  sir. 

Judas  I  am,  ycliped  Maccabaeus.  600 

Dum.  Judas  Maccabseus  dipt  is  plain  Judas. 
Biron.  A  kissing  traitor.     How  art  thou  proved  Judas? 
Hoi.  Judas  I  am, — 
Dim.  The  more  shame  for  you,  Judas. 
Hoi.  What  mean  you,  sir  ? 

107 


Act  V.  Sc.  ii.  LOVE'S  LABOUR  *S  LOST 

Boyet.  To  make  Judas  hang  himself. 

Hoi.  Begin,  sir;   you  are  my  elder. 

Biron.  Well  followed:   Judas  was  hanged  on  an  elder. 

Hoi.  I  will  not  be  put  out  of  countenance. 

Biron.  Because  thou  hast  no  face.  6io 

Hoi.  What  is  this? 

Boyet.  A  cittern-head. 

Dum.  The  head  of  a  bodkin. 

Biron.  A  Death's  face  in  a  ring. 

Long.  The  face  of  an  old  Roman  coin,  scarce  seen. 

Boyet.  The  pommel  of  Caesar's  falchion. 

Dum.  The  carved  bone-face  on  a  flask. 

Biron.  Saint  George's  half-cheek  in  a  brooch. 

Dum.  Ay,  and  in  a  brooch  of  lead. 

Biron.  Ay,  and  worn  in  the  cap  of  a  tooth-drawer.       620 
And  now  forward;    for  we  have  put  thee  in  coun- 
tenance. 

Hoi.  You  have  put  me  out  of  countenance. 

Biron.  False :  we  have  given  thee  faces. 

Hoi.  But  you  have  out-faced  them  all. 

Biron.  An  thou  wert  a  lion,  we  would  do  so. 

Boyet.  Therefore,  as  he  is  an  ass,  let  him  go. 

And  so  adieu,  sweet  Jude !   nay,  why  dost  thou  stay  ? 

Dum.  For  the  latter  end  of  his  name. 

Biron.  For  the  ass  to  the  Jude;    give  it  him: — Jud-as, 
away! 

Hoi.  This  is  not  generous,  not  gentle,  not  humble.     630 

Boyet.  A  light  for  Monsieur  Judas!    it  grows  dark,  he 
may  stumble.  [Hoi.  retires. 

Prin.  Alas,  poor  Maccabaeus,  how  hath  he  been  baited  I 

Enter  Armado,  for  Hector. 

Biron.  Hide  thy  head,  Achilles :    here  comes  Hector  in 
arms. 

108 


LOVE'S  LABOUR 'S  LOST  Act  V.  Sc.  ii. 

Dum.  Though  my  mccks  come  home  by  me,  I  will 
now  be  merry. 

King,  Hector  was  but  a  Troyan  in  respect  of  this. 

Boyet.  But  is  this  Hector? 

King.  I  think  Hector  was  not  so  clean-timbered. 

Long.  His  leg  is  too  big  for  Hector's. 

Dum.  More  calf,  certain.  640 

Boyet.  No;   he  is  best  indued  in  the  small. 

Biron.  This  cannot  be  Hector. 

Dum.  He  's  a  god  or  a  painter ;   for  he  makes  faces. 

Arm.  The  armipotent  Mars,  of  lances  the  almighty. 
Gave  Hector  a  gift, — 

Dum.  A  gilt  nutmeg. 

Biron.  A  lemon. 

Long.  Stuck  with  cloves. 

Dum.  No,  cloven. 

Arm.  Peace! —  650 

The  armipotent  Mars,  of  lances  the  almighty. 

Gave  Hector  a  gift,  the  heir  of  Ilion ; 
A  man  so  breathed,  that  certain  he  would  fight  ye. 

From  morn  till  night,  out  of  his  pavilion. 
I  am  that  flower, — 

Dum.  That  mint. 

Long.  That  columbine. 

Arm.  Sweet  Lord  Longaville,  rein  thy  tongue. 

Long.  I  must  rather  give  it  the  rein,  for  it  runs  against 
Hector. 

Dum.  Ay,  and  Hector  's  a  greyhound. 

Arm.  The  sweet  war-man  is  dead  and  rotten ;   sweet 

chucks,  beat  not  the  bones  of  the  buried :   when  660 
he  breathed,  he  was  a  man.     But  I  will  forward 
with  my  device.     [To  the  Princess]     Sweet  roy- 
alty, bestow  on  me  the  sense  of  hearing. 
109 


Act  V.  Sc.  ii.  LOVE'S  LABOUR 'S  LOST 

Prin.  Speak,  brave  Hector :   we  are  much  delighted. 

Arm.  I  do  adore  thy  sweet  grace's  sUpper. 

Boyet.      [Aside    to    Dumain]      Loves    her    by    the 

foot. 
Dum.      [Aside    to    Boyet]      He    may    not    by    the 

yard. 
Arm.  This  Hector  far  surmounted  Hannibal, —  670 

Cost.  The    party    is    gone,    fellow    Hector,    she    is 

gone ;   she  is  two  months  on  her  way. 
Arm.  What  meanest  thou  ? 
Cost.  Faith,  unless  you  play  the  honest  Troyan,  the 

poor   wench    is    cast   away :    she 's    quick ;     the 

child  brags  in  her  belly  already :   'tis  yours. 
Arm.  Dost  thou  infamonize  me  among  potentates? 

thou  shalt  die. 
Cost.  Then  shall  Hector  be  whipped  for  Jaquenetta 

that  is  quick  by  him,  and  hanged  for  Pompey  6S0 

that  is  dead  by  him. 
Dum.  Most  rare  Pompey! 
Boyet.  Renowned  Pompey! 
Biron.  Greater     than     great,     great,     great,     great 

Pompey !    Pompey  the  Huge ! 
Dum.  Hector  trembles. 
Biron.  Pompey  is  moved.     More  Ates,  more  Ates! 

stir  them  on  !   stir  them  on  ! 
Dum.  Hector  will  challenge  him. 
Biron.  Ay,  if  a'  have  no  more  man's  blood  in  's  belly  690 

than  will  sup  a  flea. 

Arm.  By  the  north  pole,  I  do  challenge  thee. 

Cost.  I  will  not  fight  w^ith  a  pole,  like  a  northern 
man :  I  '11  slash ;  I  '11  do  it  by  the  sword.  I 
bepray  you,  let  me  borrow  my  arms  again. 

no 


LOVE'S  LABOUR  *S  LOST  Act  V.  Sc.  ii. 

Dum.  Room  for  the  Incensed  Worthies! 

Cost.  I  '11  do  it  in  my  shirt. 

Dum.  Most  resolute  Pompey ! 

Moth.  Master,  let  me  take  you  a  button-hole  lower. 

Do  you  not  see   Pompey   is   uncasing   for  the  700 

combat?      What    mean    you?      You    will    lose 

your  reputation. 
Arm.  Gentlemen   and   soldiers,   pardon   me;    I   will 

not  combat  in  my  shirt. 
Dum.  You  may  not  deny  it :   Pompey  hath  made  the 

challenge. 
Arm.  Sweet  bloods,  I  both  may  and  will. 
Biron.  What  reason  have  you  for  't? 
Arm.  The  naked  truth  of  it  is,  I  have  no  shirt ;    I 

go  wool  ward  for  penance.  710 

Boyet.  True,    and    it    was    enjoined    him    in    Rome 

for  want  of  linen :    since  when,  I  '11  be  sworn, 

he    wore    none    but    a    dish-clout    of    Jaque- 

netta's,  and  that  a'  wears  next  his  heart  for  a 

favour. 

Enter  Mercade. 

Mer.  God  save  you,  madam ! 
Prin.  Welcome,  Mercade; 

But  that  thou  interrupt'st  our  merriment. 
Mer.  I  am  sorry,  madam ;    for  the  news  I  bring 

Is  heavy  in  my  tongue.    The  king  your  father —  720 
Prin.  Dead,  for  my  life! 
Mer.  Even  so ;  my  tale  is  told. 

Biron.  Worthies,  away !    the  scene  begins  to  cloud. 
Arm.  For  mine  own  part,  I  breathe  free  breath.     I 

have  seen  the  day  of  wrong  through  the  little 

III 


Act  V.  Sc.  ii.  LOVE'S  LABOUR 'S  LOST 

hole  of  discretion,  and  I  will  right  myself  like 

a  soldier.  [Exeunt  Worthies. 

King.  How  fares  your  majesty? 

Prin,  Boyet,  prepare ;   I  will  away  to-night. 

King.  Madam,  not  so;    I  do  beseech  you,  stay.  730 

Prin.  Prepare,  I  say.     I  thank  you,  gracious  lords, 
For  all  your  fair  endeavours ;   and  entreat. 
Out  of  a  new-sad  soul,  that  you  vouchsafe 
In  your  rich  wisdom  to  excuse,  or  hide, 
The  liberal  opposition  of  our  spirits. 
If  over-boldly  we  have  borne  ourselves 
In  the  converse  of  breath :   your  gentleness 
Was  guilty  of  it.     Fareweh,  worthy  lord ! 
A  heavy  heart  bears  not  a  nimble  tongue : 
Excuse  me  so,  coming  too  short  of  thanks  740 

For  my  great  suit  so  easily  obtain' d. 

King.  The  extreme  parts  of  time  extremely  forms 
All  causes  to  the  purpose  of  his  speed ; 
And  often,  at  his  very  loose,  decides 
That  which  long  process  could  not  arbitrate : 
And  though  the  mourning  brow  of  progeny 
Forbid  the  smiling  courtesy  of  love 
The  holy  suit  which  fain  it  would  convince ; 
Yet,  since  love's  argument  was  first  on  foot, 
Let  not  the  cloud  of  sorrow  justle  it  750 

From  what  it  purposed ;   since,  to  wail  friends  lost 
Is  not  by  much  so  wholesome-profitable 
As  to  rejoice  at  friends  but  newly  found. 

Prin.  1  understand  you  not :   my  griefs  are  double. 

Biron.  Honest  plain  words  best  pierce  the  ear  of  grief ; 
And  by  these  badges  understand  the  king. 
For  your  fair  sakes  have  we  neglected  time, 
112 


LOVE'S  LABOUR  'S  LOST  Act  V.  Sc.  ii. 

Play'd  foul  with  our  oaths  :  your  beauty,  ladies, 

Hath  much  deform'd  us,  fashioning  our  humours 

Even  to  the  opposed  end  of  our  intents :  760 

And  what  in  us  hath  seem'd  ridiculous, — 

As  love  is  full  of  unbefitting  strains ; 

All  wanton  as  a  child,  skipping,  and  vain; 

Form'd  by  the  eye,  and  therefore,  hke  the  eye, 

Full  of  strange  shapes,  of  habits  and  of  forms. 

Varying  in  subjects  as  the  eye  doth  roll 

To  every  viried  object  in  his  glance: 

Which  parti-coated  presence  of  loose  love 

Put  on  by  us,  if,  in  your  heavenly  eyes, 

Have  misbecomed  our  oaths  and  gravities,         770 

Those  heavenly  eyes,  that  look  into  these  faults. 

Suggested  us  to  make.    Therefore,  ladies. 

Our  love  being  yours,  the  error  that  love  makes 

Is  likewise  yours:  we  to  ourselves  prove  false. 

By  being  once  false  for  ever  to  be  true 

To  those  that  make  us  both, — fair  ladies,  you: 

And  even  that  falsehood,  in  itself  a  sin, 

Thus  purifies  itself,  and  turns  to  grace. 

Prin.  We  have  received  your  letters  full  of  love; 

Your  favours,  the  ambassadors  of  love;  y^o 

And,  in  our  maiden  council,  rated  them 

At  courtship,  pleasant  jest  and  courtesy, 

As  bombast  and  as  lining  to  the  time: 

But  more  devout  than  this  in  our  respects 

Have  we  not  been;  and  therefore  met  your  loves 

In  their  own  fashion,  Hke  a  merriment. 

Dwn.  Our  letters,  madam,  showM  much  more  than  jest. 

Lojig.  So  did  our  looks. 

Ros.  We  did  not  quote  them  so. 

113 


Act  V.  Sc.  ii.  LOVE'S  LABOUR  S  LOST 

King.  Now,  at  the  latest  minute  of  the  hour, 

Grant  us  your  loves.  790 

Prin.  A  time,  methinks,  too  short 

To  make  a  world-without-end  bargain  in. 
No,  no,  my  lord,  your  grace  is  perjured  much. 
Full  of  dear  guiltiness;   and  therefore  this: — 
If  for  my  love,  as  there  is  no  such  cause. 
You  will  do  aught,  this  shall  you  do  for  me : 
Your  oath  I  will  not  trust ;  but  go  with  speed 
To  some  forlorn  and  naked  hermitage. 
Remote  from  all  the  pleasures  of  the  world; 
There  stay  until  the  twelve  celestial  signs  800 

Have  brought  about  the  annual  reckoning. 
If  this  austere  insociable  life 
Change  not  your  offer  made  in  heat  of  blood; 
If  frosts  and  fasts,  hard  lodging  and  thin  weeds 
Nip  not  the  gaudy  blossoms  of  your  love, 
But  that  it  bear  this  trial,  and  last  love; 
Then,  at  the  expiration  of  the  year. 
Come  challenge  me,  challenge  me  by  these  deserts, 
And,  by  this  virgin  palm  now  kissing  thine, 
I  will  be  thine;  and  till  that  instant  shut  810 

My  woeful  self  up  in  a  mourning  house. 
Raining  the  tears  of  lamentation 
For  the  remembrance  of  my  father's  death. 
If  this  thou  do  deny,  let  our  hands  part. 
Neither  intitled  in  the  other's  heart. 

King.  If  this,  or  more  than  this,  I  would  deny. 

To  flatter  up  these  powers  of  mine  with  rest, 
The  sudden  hand  of  death  close  up  mine  eye! 
Hence  ever  then  my  heart  is  in  thy  breast. 

Biron.  And  what  to  me,  my  love?  and  what  to  me?    820 

114 


LOVE'S  LABOUR  'S  LOST  Act  V.  Sc.  ii. 

Ros.  You  must  be  purged  too,  your  sins  are  rack'd, 
You  are  attaint  with  faults  and  perjury: 
Therefore  if  you  my  favour  mean  to  get, 
A  twelvemonth  shall  you  spend,  and  never  rest, 
But  seek  the  weary  beds  of  people  sick. 

Diim.  But  what  to  me,  my  love?  but  what  to  me? 
A  wife? 

Kath.  A  beard,  fair  health,  and  honesty ; 

With  three-fold  love  I  wish  you  all  these  three. 

Dum.  O,  shall  I  say,  I  thank  you,  gentle  wife  ? 

Kath.  Not  so,  my  lord ;   a  twelvemonth  and  a  day       830 
I  '11  mark  no  words  that  smooth-faced  wooers  say : 
Come  when  the  king  doth  to  my  lady  come ; 
Then,  if  I  have  much  love,  I  '11  give  you  some. 

Dum.  I  '11  serve  thee  true  and  faithfully  till  then. 

Kath.  Yet  swear  not,  lest  ye  be  forsworn  again. 

Long.  What  says  Maria? 

Mar.  At  the  twelvemonth's  end 

I  '11  change  my  black  gown  for  a  faithful  friend. 

Long.  I  '11  stay  with  patience :  but  the  time  is  long. 

Mar.  The  liker  you  ;  few  taller  are  so  young. 

Biron.  Studies  my  lady?   mistress,  look  on  me;  840 

Behold  the  window  of  my  heart,  mine  eye, 
What  humble  suit  attends  thy  answer  there : 
Impose  some  service  on  me  for  thy  love. 

Ros.  Oft  have  I  heard  of  you,  my  lord  Biron, 

Before  I  saw  you ;  and  the  world's  large  tongue 

Proclaims  you  for  a  man  replete  with  mocks, 

Full  of  comparisons  and  wounding  flouts. 

Which  you  on  all  estates  will  execute 

That  lie  within  the  mercy  of  your  wit. 

To  weed  this  wormwood  from  your  fruitful  brain,  850 

115 


Act  V.  Sc.  ii.  LOVE'S  LABOUR  'S  LOST 

And  therewithal  to  win  me,  if  you  please, 

Without  the  which  I  am  not  to  be  won, 

You  shall  this  twelvemonth  term  from  day  to  day 

Visit  the  speechless  sick,  and  still  converse 

With  groaning  wretches ;   and  your  task  shall  be, 

With  all  the  fierce  endeavour  of  your  wit 

To  enforce  the  pained  impotent  to  smile. 

Biron.  To  move  wild  laughter  in  the  throat  of  death  ? 
It  cannot  be ;    it  is  impossible : 
Mirth  cannot  move  a  soul  in  agony.  860 

Ros.  Why,  that 's  the  way  to  choke  a  gibing  spirit. 
Whose  influence  is  begot  of  that  loose  grace 
Which  shallow  laughing  hearers  give  to  fools : 
A  jest's  prosperity  lies  in  the  ear 
Of  him  that  hears  it,  never  in  the  tongue 
Of  him  that  makes  it :   then,  if  sickly  ears, 
Deaf'd  with  the  clamours  of  their  own  dear  groans. 
Will  hear  your  idle  scorns,  continue  then. 
And  I  will  have  you  and  that  fault  withal; 
But  if  they  will  not,  throw  away  that  spirit,  870 

And  I  shall  find  you  empty  of  that  fault. 
Right  joyful  of  your  reformation. 

Biron.  A  twelvemonth  !  well ;  befall  what  will  befall, 
I  '11  jest  a  twelvemonth  in  an  hospital. 

Prin.    [To  the  King]   Ay,  sweet  my  lord;   and  so  I  take 
my  leave. 

King.  No,  madam ;   we  will  bring  you  on  your  way. 

Biron.  Our  wooing  doth  not  end  like  an  old  play ; 
Jack  hath  not  Jill :   these  ladies'  courtesy 
Might  well  have  made  our  sport  a  comedy. 

King.  Come,  sir,  it  wants  a  twelvemonth  and  a  day,     880 
And  then  'twill  end. 

116 


LOVE'S  LABOUR'S  LOST  Act  V.  Sc.  ii. 

Biron.  That 's  too  long  for  a  play. 

Re-enter  Armado. 

Arm.  Sweet  majesty,  vouchsafe  me, — 

Prin.  Was  not  that  Hector? 

Dum.  The  worthy  knight  of  Troy. 

Arm.  I  will  kiss  thy  royal  finger,  and  take  leave.  I 
am  a  votary;  I  have  vowed  to  Jaquenetta  to 
hold  the  plough  for  her  sweet  love  three  years. 
But,  most  esteemed  greatness,  will  you  hear  the 
dialogue  that  the  two  learned  men  have  com- 
piled in  praise  of  the  owl  and  the  cuckoo?  it  890 
should  have  followed  in  the  end  of  our  show. 

King.  Call  them  forth  quickly;  we  will  do  so. 

Arm.  Holla!   approach. 

Re-enter  Holof ernes,  Nathaniel,  Moth,  Costard,  and 
others. 

This  side  is  Hiems,  Winter,  this  Ver,  the 
Spring;  the  one  maintained  by  the  owl,  the 
other  by  the  cuckoo.     Ver,  begin. 

The  Song. 

Spring.  When  daisies  pied  and  violets  blue 
And  lady-smocks  all  silver-white 
And  cuckoo-buds  of  yellow  hue 

Do  paint  the  meadows  with  delight,  900 

The  cuckoo  then,  on  every  tree, 
Mocks  married  men ;   for  thus  sings  he. 

Cuckoo ; 
Cuckoo,  cuckoo :   O  word  of  fear, 
Unpleasing  to  a  married  ear ! 

117 


Act  V.  Sc.  ii.  LOVE'S.  LABOUR  'S  LOST 

When  shepherds  pipe  on  oaten  straws, 
And  merry  larks  are  ploughmen's  clocks,   • 

When  turtles  tread,  and  rooks,  and  daws, 
And  maidens  bleach  their  summer  smocks. 

The  cuckoo  then,  on  every  tree,  910 

Mocks  married  men ;   for  thus  sings  he. 
Cuckoo ; 

Cuckoo,  cuckoo :   O  word  of  fear, 

Unpleasing  to  a  married  ear ! 

Winter.  AVhen  icicles  hang  by  the  wall. 

And  Dick  the  shepherd  blows  his  nail, 
And  Tom  bears  logs  into  the  hall. 

And  milk  comes  frozen  home  in  pail. 
When  blood  is  nipp'd  and  ways  be  foul, 
Then  nightly  sings  the  staring  owl,  920 

Tu-whit ; 
Tu-who,  a  merry  note, 
While  greasy  Joan  doth  keel  the  pot. 

When  all  aloud  the  wind  doth  blow. 

And  coughing  drowns  the  parson's  saw, 
And  birds  sit  brooding  in  the  snow, 

And  Marian's  nose  looks  red  and  raw. 
When  roasted  crabs  hiss  in  the  bowl. 
Then  nightly  sings  the  staring  owl, 

Tu-whit ;  930 

Tu-who,  a  merry  note. 
While  greasy  Joan  doth  keel  the  pot. 

Arm.  The  words  of  Mercury  are  harsh  after  the 
songs  of  Apollo.  You  that  way, — we  this 
way.  [Exeunt. 


118 


LOVE'S  LABOUR  'S  LOST 


Glossary. 


/4^he;  V.  li.  13. 

Abate,    deduct,   leave   out,    ex 
cept,  vide  Novum ;  V.  ii.  545. 
iA'cadenie,  Academy;  I.  i.  13. 
l^ddress'd,  prepared;  II.  i.  S3.X 

Affection,  affectation;  V.  i.  4. 
i^ffect,  adore;  I.  ii.  166. 

Affect   the   letter,   use   allitera- 
tion; IV.  ii.  56. 
K.^ffects,  affections,  inclinations; 
I.  i.  152. 

Ajax;  probably  used  with  a 
play  upon  a  fakes,  a  well- 
knoAvn  coarse  joke  of  the 
time;  V.  ii.  579. 

All  hid,  the  children's  cry  in 
the  game  of  "  hide  and 
seek";  IV.  iii.  77. 

Allow'd,  privileged  (as  a  fool); 
V.  ii.  478. 

iAn  if,  if  (emphatic)  ;  I.  i.  50. 

Annothanize  (so  Folio  i  and 
Quartos ;  the  other  Folios, 
"anatomize"),  probably  Ar- 
mado's  rendering  of  "anato- 
mize " ;  IV.  i.  68. 

Antique,  antic;  V.  ^.  113. 

Apple  of  her  eye;   "  upon  the 

a."  =  "  in    obedience    to    her 

glance  " ;  V.  ii.  475. 

\^Art,  science;   "living  art."  i.e. 

"  immortal  science  "  ;  I.  i.  14. 

Ates,     mischiefs,      instigations 
(Ate,    the    goddess    of    mis-^ 
chief  that   incited  to    blood-  - 
shed)  ;  V.  ii.  687. 


Bandied;  vide  Set. 
'^'^argain;  "to  sell  a  bargain" 
seems  to  have  consisted  in 
drawing  a  person  in  by  some 
stratagem  to  proclaim  him- 
self a  fool ;  III.  i.  loi. 

case,  mean,  mere ;  I.  i.  87. 
vBate,  blunt;  I.  i.  6. 

Beg;  "you  cannot  beg  us,"  i.e. 
you  cannot  prove  us  to  be 
idiots  and  apply  to  be  our 
guardians ;  you  cannot  beg 
the  wardship  of  our  persons 
and  property;  V.  ii.  490. 

Ben  venuto,  welcome  (Ital- 
ian) ;  IV.  ii.  160. 

Beshrew,  a  mild  form  of  im- 
precation ;  V.  ii.  46. 

Retime,  betide,  chance ;  IV.  iii. 
381. 

Bias,  preponderant  tendency 
(originally  a  term  in  bowl- 
ing) ;  IV.  ii.  112. 

Bird-bolt,  a  short  thick  arrow 
with  a  broad  flat  end,  used 
to  kill  birds  without  pier- 
cing; IV.  iii.  22. 

Blood;   "  in  blood,"   used  tech- 
nically  in   the   sense   of  "  in 
full  vigour  " ;  IV.  ii.  3. 
l-r^trfJ  of,  confident  in;  II.  i.  28. 

Bombast,  padding  (cotton  used 

to   stuff   out   garments)  ;    V. 

i.  783. 

rawl,      a      kind      of      dance, 

"  wherein    many     (men    and 


119 


Glossary 


LOVE'S  LABOUR'S  LOST 


In  B  flat. 


9  10       11  12  a       b      c 

A  Brawl,    (From  Naylor's  Shakespeare  and  Musie.) 


women)  holding  by  the 
hands,  sometimes  in  a  ring, 
and  otherwhiles  at  length, 
move  all  together  "  ;  III.  i.  9. 
(See  the  accompanying  ex- 
ample.) 

Breathed,  endowed  with  breath, 
vigorous ;  V.  ii.  653. 

Button-hole;  "  let  me  take  you 
a  b.  lower,"  i.e.  "  let  me  speak 
without    ceremony " ;    V.    ii. 

699. 
^  Butt-shaft,    a    kind    of    arrow 
used  for  shooting  at  hutts,  or 
targets ;  I.  ii.  175. 


Can,  did ;  an  old  corruption  of 
"  gan "  {cp.  the  version 
printed  in  the  Passionate  Pil- 
grim), with  which  word  it 
was  frequently  confused ;  IV. 
iii.  105. 

anary,  to  dance  the  canary,  a 
fantastic   savage   dance,    said 


\A 


to  have  been  brought  from 
the  Canary  Islands  ;  III.  i.  12. 
(See  Specimen.) 

Capon,  used  like  poulet  in 
French  for  a  love-letter ; 
"  break  up  this  capon,"  i.e. 
"  open  this  letter ;  IV.  i.  56. 

Career,  encounter  of  knights  at 
full  gallop;  V.  ii.  482. 

Carve,  to  show  amorous  cour- 
tesy; V,  ii.  2)^2)- 

Caudle,  a  warm  drink  of  gruel 
with  wine  and  spice  added, 
often  given  to  the  sick;  IV. 

^Cause,  used  in  the  technical 
sense  of  "  cause  of  quarrel  "; 
I  ii.  178. 

l/Cliapmen,  sellers;  II.  i.  i6."3^ 
Charge-house,  a  school-house, 
not  found  elsewhere ;  printed 
"  charg-house  "  in  Fol.  i  and 
Q.  I ;  perhaps  ^  "  church- 
house  "     as    pronounced    by 


8        9     TO       II      12 


A  Canary.    (From  Naylor's  Shakespeare  and  Music.) 
120 


LOVE'S  LABOUR  'S  LOST 


Glossary 


Armado :  "  charter-house," 
"  large-house,"  etc.,  have 
been  suggested;  V.  i.  82. 

Chose,  choice,  well-chosen ;  V. 
i.  92. 

Chuck,  a  term  of  endearment ; 
V.  i.  III. 

Circum  circa  (Quartos  and  Fo- 
lios "  unum  cita,"  emended 
by  Theobald),  round  and 
round;  V.  i.  68. 

Cittern-head;  "the  cittern  had 
usually  a  head  grotesquely 
carved  at  the  extremity  of 
the  neck  and  finger-board  "  ; 
V.  ii.  612.  (See  Illustration 
at  end  of  Glossary.) 

Clazvs,  scratches  in  a  pleasing 
manner,  humours,  flatters ; 
IV.  ii.  65. 

Clean  timbered,  well-made, 
faultlessly  shaped ;  V.  ii.  638. 

Clout,  the  white  mark  at  which 
archers  took  their  aim ;  IV.  i. 
136. 

Cockled,   enclosed    in    a    shell ; 
IV.  iii.  337. 
L^^odpiece,    part    of    the    male 
dress  of  the  period ;  III.  i.  185. 

Cog,  deceive ;  V.  ii.  235. 

Colourable     colours,     specious 
pretexts;  IV.  ii.  152. 
[/^Common  sense,  ordinary  sight, 

or  perception ;  I.  i.  57,  64. 
^""Competitors,   associates;    II.    i. 

82.   H- 
^  Complements,  accomplishments, 
probably    with    the    idea    of 
"  formal      accomplishments," 
"  external  shows  "  ;  I.  i.  169. 


''''Complexion,  temperament,  dis- 
position   (used  quibblingly)  ; 
I.  ii.  81. 
Compliment,  formality ;  IV.  ii. 
,     /1 46. 

^^onceit's,  thought's;  II.  i.  72.     ><" 
^oncolinel,  probably  the  begin- 
ning  or  burden   of  a   song; 
III.  i.  3. 
Consent,  compact;  V.  ii.  460. 
^--Contempts  =^  conitnis,;  I.  i.  191. 
Converse  of  breath,  conversa- 
tion ;  V.  ii.  737. 
Convince,  overcome;  V.  ii.  748. 
u&ormorant,  ravenous;  I.  i.  4. 
Corner-cap,     the     biretta,      or 
three-cornered  cap  of  a  Ro- 
man Catholic  priest ;  IV.  iii. 

f^orporal  of  the  field,  an  officer 
similar  to  our  aide-de-camp ; 
III.  i.  188. 

Couplement,  couple  (used  by 
Armado)  ;  V.  ii.  532. 

Coursing,  chasing;  IV.  iii.  i. 
-Courtesy,  curtsy;  I.  ii.  62. 

Crabs,  crab-apples ;  V.  ii.  928. 

Crack,  boast ;  IV.  iii.  267. 

Crest,  badge ;  "  beauty's  crest 
becomes  the  heavens  well " 
(i.e.  the  brightness  which  is 
the  badge  of  beauty)  ;  IV.  iii. 

Clitic,  carper;  III.  i.  177. 

/  Critic,  cynical ;  "  critic  Timon," 
the  misanthrope  par  excel- 
lence ;  IV.  iii.  169. 

'•^Crosses,  used  quibblingly  in  the 
sense  of  money ;  many  old 
coins  were  marked  with  a 
cross  on  one  side;  I.  ii.  33. 


121 


Glossary 


LOVE'S  LABOUR  'S  LOST 


Cuckoo-buds,  probably  the  but- 
tercup, or  the  bud  of  the 
cowslip ;  the  name  is  now 
given  to  the  meadow  cress ; 
V.  ii.  899- 
l^urious-knotted,  elaborately 
laid  out  in  knots,  intricately- 
devised  beds  in  which  flowers 
were  planted;  I.  i.  249. 

Curst,  shrewish ;  IV.  i.  36. 

i^--^ancing-horse;  an  allusion  to 
a  famous  performing  horse 
often  alluded  to  by  contem- 
porary writers  as  "  Bankes' 
horse,"  and  here  illustrated; 
he  is  said  to  have  gone  up  to 
the  top  of  St.  Paul's  in  1600 
(cp.  Chambers's  Book  of 
Days)  ;  I.  ii.  52. 


From  "  Maroccus  Extaticus  or  Bankes' 
Bay  Horse  in  a  Trance  "  (i595). 

i/ Day-woman,    dairy-woman ;    I. 

./      ii.  132. 

^  Dazzling,  being  dazzled ;  "  who 
dazzling  so."  i.e.  "  that  when 
he  has  his  eye  made  weak" 


(by   fixing   it    upon   a   fairer 
eye)  ;  I.  i.  82. 
Dear,  used  intensitively  ("  dear 
groans  ")  ;  V.  ii.  867. 
jl'^earest,  best;  II.  i.  i./< 
\^ebate,  contest;  I.  i.  174. 
^^epart,  to  part;  II.  i.  147.7^ 
Dictynna    (Dictisima,    Dictissi- 
ma,    Dictima,   in    Folios   and 
Quartos),  one  of  the  names 
of  Diana;  IV.  ii.  2>7,  38. 
digression,  transgression ;  I.  ii. 

115- 

l^isgrace,  disfigurement ;  I.  i.  3. 

^^.Sfsposed,  inclined  to  be  some- 
what wantonly  merry;   II.  i. 
250.         7^ 
Dominical,  the  red  letter  which 
in  old  almanacs  denotes   the 
Lord's     day ;     "  red     d.     my 
golden    letter "    referring    to 
the     fashionable     colour     of 
Katherine's  hair;  V.  ii.  44. 
Doubt;    "  made    a    d."  =  "  ex- 
pressed a  fear";  V.  ii.  loi , 
Dry-beaten,    cudgelled;    V.    ii. 
263. 

^Epitheton,  epithet  (used  by  Ar- 

mado)  ;  I.  ii.  14. 
^xtemporal,  unpremeditated;  I. 

ii.  183. 

Fadge,  turn  out  well ;  V.  i.  148. 
Fair,  beauty;  IV.  i.  17. 
Fairings,    presents     (originally 
the     nick-nacks     bought     at 
fairs)  ;  V.  ii.  2. 
vFamiliar,    familiar    spirit,     de- 
mon ;  I.  ii.  171. 
Fasting,  hungry;  IV.  iii.  121. 
l/'Favour,  leave,  pardon;    III.   i. 
^      68. 


122 


LOVE'S  LABOUR'S  LOST 


Glossary 


Favour,    a    present,    token    of 
love;  V.  ii.  30;  with  a  quib- 
ble on   "  favour  "  =  "  face  " ; 
V.  ii.  2>?>- 
i^^estinately,  quickly ;  III.  i.  6. 
Fierce,  ardent ;  V.  ii.  857. 
Filed,  polished;  V.  i.  12. 
^—Fire-new,  brand-new;  I.  i.  179. 
J^^tted,  equipped ;  II.  i.  45.  X 
Flap-dragon,  a  small  substance 
set  on  fire  and  put  afloat  in 
a  glass  of  liquor,  to  be  swal- 
lowed flaming;  V.  i.  43. 
F/flky^,  a  powder-flask;  V.ii.617. 
Fleer' d,  laughed ;  V.  ii.  109. 
Force,  to  care ;  V.  ii.  440. 
L^orm,  bench,  used  quibblingly; 
I.  i.  209. 
Fortuna   de   la  guerra    (Span- 
ish),   fortune   of   war    (used 
hjt-Armado)  ;  V.  ii.  531. 
\y^Trame,  order ;  III.  i.  192. 

Gallows,  used  playfully  for  a 
mischievous  knave  {cp.  wag 
=  wag-halter)  ;  V.  ii.  12. 
l^elded,  maimed;  II.  i.  149. >^ 
l^entility,  good  manners  (Theo- 
bald conjectured  "garru- 
lity")  I.  i.  129. 

Get  the  Sun;  in  the  days  of 
archery  it  was  an  advantage 
to  get  the  sun  at  the  back  of 
the  bowmen,  and  in  the  face 
of  the  enemy;  IV.  iii.  368. 

Gig,  a  kind  of  top ;  IV.  iii.  166. 
(Cp.  illustration.) 

Glozes,  sophistries;  IV.  iii.  369. 

God  dig-you-den,  i.e.  "  God 
give  you  good  evening " ; 
IV.  i.  42. 

Greasily,  grossly ;  IV.  i.  139. 


From  the  MS.  of  the  Remand' Alexan- 
dre in  the  Bodleian  Library. 

Guards,  trimmings,  ornaments ; 
IV.  iii.  57. 

Half-cheek,  profile ;  V.  ii.  618. 
Hands;  "  of  all  hands  " 
any  case  "  ;  IV. 

\'^'fat  penthouse- 
tike;  III.  i.  17. 
(C  p.  Pent- 
houselike.) 
Hay,  an  old  coun- 
try-dance ;  V. 
i.  156. 
Head;  "  a  buck 
of  •  the  first 
head"  =  "a 
buck  of  the 
fifth  year  " ; 
IV.  ii.  10. 

i^Heed,  protection, 
lodestar;  I.  i. 
82. 

\/kereby,  used  by 
Jaquenetta     in 
the  sense  of  "  as  it  may  hap- 
pen";   Armado    takes    it    to 
mean  "  close  by  "  ;  I.  ii.  135. 
Hid,  vide  "All  hid." 

LMight,  is  called;  I.  i.  171. 
Hind,    boor,    peasant    (with    a 
quibble  on  "  hind,"  the  beast ; 
hence  "  rational  hind  ")  ;  I.  ii. 
117. 


From  an  illus- 
tration in  the 
"  M  u  sarum 
Delicise." 


123 


Glossary 

Hohhy-horse,  one  of  the  prin- 
cipal characters  in  the  old 
Morris-dance,  but  growing 
out  of  use  after  the  Reforma- 
tion ;    "  The    hobby-horse    is 


LOVE'S  LABOUR  *S  LOST 


forgot "  was  a  well-known 
quotation  from  some  popular 
ballad  ("But  O,"  or  "For 
O,"  preceded;  cp.  Hamlet, 
III.  ii.  142)  ;  III.  i.  30. 


From  an  early  painting  in  the  Fitzwilliam  Muesum,  Cambridge. 
(Note  tne  familiar  tabor  and  pipe.) 


X\\ 


efs9(;Umn^ 


f)iais&a 


rA .%  !l  „  _ 

.  tl  '<&  U  ^  1^ 

jlbtaat 


eeloi 
ain 


<*  «^  Mi»  W    * 


.  _    ..    „  „  -l 

be/Atijerfln^of 


in^Tf  ^albcr  tobitb  artmlSEa 

iP^bea  .ballotncb  be  thvYftacir 

SbyWnaooiae  tome.  .S^by  toiU  £ 

, ,  done  in  Cartb  a*  it  12  in1|&eAt ea 

fibe  u^  tbis  6a;>  oure)ail;jbr?^ 
na  fo?tti^c  u«  our  treFpaffreecc? 
.forgibe  tbfra  tbattrcBpaffeagedtifl 
U8an6lfadu2  not  into  tcmo* 


From  a  specimen  {temf.  Charles  I.)  in  the  Bateman  Museum. 
124 


LOVE'S  LABOUR  'S  LOST 


Glossary 


Home,  a  home  thrust ;  V.  i.  59. 

HonoriUcabilitudinitatibiis,  a 
word  often  cited  as  a  typical 
long  word;  V.  i.  42. 

Horn-hook,  leaf  of  paper  con- 
taining alphabet,  etc.,  pro- 
tected by  a  thin  layer  of  horn 


S^—flfques    (dissyllabic,    here    and 

elsewhere    in    Shakespeare)  ; 

II.  i.  42.      X. 
\^^an,   common   designation  for 

a  peasant  girl ;  III.  i.  206. 
Judas  was  hang'd  on  an  elder ; 

V.  ii.  608.     (See  illustration.) 


From  an  early  black-letter  edition  of  Maundevile's  Travec. 


L'-'^Haii 


or  other  transparent  sub- 
stance ;  applied  also  to  an  a  & 
c  tablet  without  horn  ;  V.  i.46. 

See  illustration  opposite.) 
umorous,   capricious;    III.   i. 
176. 


Imp,  youngster;  V.  ii.  590. 
Incision,  blood-letting;  IV.  iii. 
96. 
^ — 'fncony,  nice,  smart ;  III.  i.  135. 
^px'Hi^e,  tape ;  III.  i.  139. 

Insanie    (Folios    and    Quartos, 
infamie),  insanity,  madness; 
V.  i.  126. 
Intellect,  signature ;  IV.  ii.  136. 
Inward,  confidential ;  V.  i.  96. 
If^It,  used  with  general  reference 
to  a  plural   substantive  pre- 
ceding; I.  i.  23. 


Juvenal,  juvenile,  youth    (used 
by  Armado)  ;  I.  ii.  8. 

Keel,  to  cool  by  stirring,  or 
perhaps  to  scum  the  pot  in 
order  to  keep  it  from  boiling 
over;  V.  ii.  923. 

Kersey,  a  coarse  woollen  stuflf; 
V.  ii.  413. 

Kingly-poor  (not  hyphened  in 
Folios  and  Quartos);  "  K. 
flout  "  =  (  ?)  "  poor  mockery 
of  a  king,"  or  "  poor  mock- 
ery given  with  the  airs  of 
royalty"  ("poor-liking." 
"poor  kingly,"  have  been 
suggested)  ;  V.  ii.  269. 

Lady-smocks,  probably  the 
flowers    of     the     Cardamine 


125 


Glossary 


LOVE'S  LABOUR  'S  LOST 


Pratensis,  so  called  from  the   V^Ianner,  a  law  term   (=  main- 


resemblance  of  its  flowers  to 
little  smocks  hung  out  to 
dry;  or  perhaps  the  name  is 
a  corruption  of  "  Our  Lady's 
smock  " ;  V.  ii.  898. 

Lances,  lancers;  V.  ii.  644. 

Last,  continue,  remain,  "  1. 
love,"  i.e.  "  continue  to  be 
love";  V.  ii.  806. 
l^yL'envoy,  often  used  at  this 
period  with  the  article  or 
pronoun  prefixed,  hence 
"thy  I'envoy";  III.  i.  y2>- 

Libbard's,  leopard's ;  V.  ii.  549. 
\.yLie,  lodge;  I.  i.  149. 

Liver-vein,  the  style  and  man- 
ner of  men  in  love;   IV.  iii. 
72- 
lyj^ong  of,  owing  to;  II.  i.  119.Y- 

Loose,  losing  of  the  shaft ;  V. 

^^  ii.  744- 

"  Lord  have  mercy  on  us,"  the 
inscription  put  upon  the 
doors  of  houses  infected  with 
the  plague ;  V.  ii.  419. 

Loves,  affects ;  IV.  iii.  357. 

^"^lagniUcenf,    pompous ;    III.    i. 

179. 
J^Iail,  bag  (the  Quartos  and 
Folio  I  read :  "  in  the  male  "  ; 
Tyrwhitt's  ingenious  emen- 
dation "  in  them  all "  has 
been  adopted  by  many  edi- 
tors) ;  III.  i.  74. 

Malmsey,  a  kind  of  sweet 
wine ;  V.  ii.  2SS- 

Manage,  government,  training 
(of  horses)  ;  V.  ii.  482. 

Manager,  one  who  wields 
arms ;  I.  ii.  182. 


A 


our)  ;  "  taken  with  the  m.," 
i.e.  "  taken  with  the  thing 
stolen  upon  him";  I    i.  205. 

Mantuan,  Giovanni  Battista 
Spagnoli,  named  Mantuanus, 
was  the  author  of  certain  ec- 
logues written  in  Latin, 
which  were  read  in  schools; 
Holofernes  quotes  the  first 
line  of  the  first  eclogue ;  IV. 
Ji.  96. 
^argent,  margin  (an  allusion 
to  the  custom  of  writing 
notes  in  the  margin  of 
books)  ;  II.  i.  246.  y^ 
^larket;  "  he  ended  ^e  mar- 
ket," alluding  to  the  proverb, 
"  three  women  and  a  goose 
make  a  market";  III.  i.  no. 

Mean,  tenor;  V.  ii.  328. 

Measure,  a  stately  dance;  V.  ii. 

yi87. 
^^ere,  absolute ;  I.  i.  149. 

Mess,  a  set  of  four ;  "  at  great 
dinners  the  company  was 
usually         arranged  into 

fours  ";  IV.  iii.  206. 

Mete  at,  to  measure  with  the 
eye  in  aiming,  to  aim  at ;  IV. 
i.  134- 

Metheglin,    a    drink    made    of 
honey  and  water  fermented; 
V.  ii.  233. 
Minstrelsy,  the  office  of  a  min- 
strel ;  I.  i.  177. 

Misprision,  misapprehension ; 
IV.  iii.  97. 

Monarcho,  the  name  of  a  fan- 
tastic Italian  resident  in  Lon- 
don ;  often  alluded  to  by  con- 
temporary writers ;  IV.  i.  loi. 


126 


LOVE'S  LABOUR  'S  LOST 


Glossary 


^"'^ative,  produced  by  nature ;  I. 

ii.  105. 
L^-^ew-f  angled,      delighting      in 
novelty;  I.  i.  106. 

Nice,  coy;  V.  ii.  219. 

Nit,  applied  to  anything  very 
small;  IV.  i.  150. 

No\'i  hominem,  etc.  ("I  know 
the  man  as  well  I  do  you"), 
a  well-known  sentence  in  the 
Latin  phrase-books;  V.  i.  10. 

Novum,  a  game  at  dice,  "  prop- 
erly called  novum  quinque, 
from  the  two  principal 
throws  of  the  dice,  nine  and 
five  "  ;  "  abate  throw  at  n."  = 
"except  in  a  throw  at  novum 
the  whole  world  could  not 
furnish  five  such  " ;  V.  ii.  545. 

O'erparted,  overweighted  in  his 

part,  or  role ;  V.  ii.  586. 
10J,  during;  I.  i.  43. 

Opinion,  self-conceit;  V.  i.  6. 

O's,  the  marks  left  by  the 
small-pox;  V.  ii.  45. 

Parcel,  company,  party;   V.  ii. 
160. 
LyTaritors,    apparitors,     i.e.     in- 
ferior officers  of  the  bishop's 
court,  whose  duty  it  was  to 
serve  citations ;  III.  i.  187. 
Parle,  parley;  V.  ii.  122. 
l/^Passado,  thrust  in   fencing ;   I. 

ii.  179- 
l^Ptlssion,  grieve ;  I.  i.  263. 
Passion's,  sorrows;  V.  ii.  118. 
Patch,  used  with  a  quibble  on 
"  patch  "  in  the  sense  of  fool ; 
IV.  ii.  32. 


Pathetical,  seemingly  used  by 
Armado  and  Costard  in  the 
sense  of  "pleasing  in  a  high 
degree,"  "  touching  "  ;>^^.  ii. 
97;  IV.  i.  150. 
i—PfdxLnt,  pedagogue;  III.  i.  178. 
ly^Penance,  misused  by  Dull;  I. 
ii.  128. 

Pencils,  small  brushes  used  by 
painters  to  lay  on  colour ; 
"  ware  pencils  "  =:  "  beware 
of  pencils,"  i.e.  "  of  drawing 
likenesses  "  ;  V.  ii.  43. 
*^nthouse-like,  hanging  over 
like  a  penthouse,  a  porch 
with  a  sloping  roof;  III.  i. 
17.  {Cp.  Hat  penthouse- 
like.) 

Peremptory,  unawed,  bold ;  IV. 
iii.  225. 

P  e  r  j  u  r  e,  perjurer  (perjurers 
were  obliged  to  wear  papers 
on  their  breasts  describing 
their  offence)  ;  IV.  iii.  47. 

Perttaunt-like,  vide  Note. 

Phantasime,  a  fantastic;  IV.  i. 

lOI. 

Pia  mater,  the  membrane 
which  covers  the  brain,  used 
for  the  brain  itself;  IV.  ii.  71. 

Picked,  over-refined;   V.   i.   14. 

Pied,  variegated;  V.  ii.  897. 

Pin,  the  wooden  pin  that  up- 
held the  clout ;  IV.  i.  138. 

Pitched  a  toil,  set  a  net;   IV. 
iii.  2. 
tPfackets,  stomachers,  or  petti- 
coats, or  some  portion  of  fe- 
male attire;  III.  i.  185. 

Please-man,   pickthank;    V.    ii. 

J463- 
yPoint,  suggest;  II.  i.  245.  y(, 

127 


Glossary 


LOVE'S  LABOUR  *S  LOST 


\/^Point,  used  with  a  quibble  on 
the  French  negative  particle; 
II.  i.  190.    \ 

Point-devise,  over  exact,  pre- 
cise ;  V.  i.  19. 

Pole,  the  long  quarter-staff,  in 
the  use  of  which  the  north- 
erners   were    skilful ;    V.    ii. 

693. 

Pomewater,  a  kind  of  apple; 
IV.  ii.  4- 

Present,  document  to  be  pre- 
sented; IV.  iii.  188. 

Pricket,  a  buck  of  the  second 
year;  IV.  ii.  12. 
^yPrint;  "  in  p.,"  i.e.  "  accurate- 
ly"; III.  i.  172. 

Priscian;  "  P.  a  little  scratch- 
ed," alluding  to  the  common 
phrase  diminuas  Prisciani 
caput,  applied  to  such  as 
speak  false  Latin ;  V.  i.  29. 

Prisons  up  (Folios  and  Quar- 
tos, "poisons  up"),  confines; 
"  up "  used  as  an  intensive 
particle ;  IV.  iii.  304. 
l^^roceeded,  used  with  a  play 
upon  "  proceed "  as  an  aca- 
demical sense,  i.e.  *'  to  take  a 
degree  "  ;  I.  i.  95. 

Pruning,  adorning ;  IV.  iii.  182. 

Push-pin,  a  child's  game  in 
which  pins  are  pushed  alter- 
nately; IV.  iii.  168. 

Qualm,  probably  used  with  a 
play  upon  "  calm  "  ;  V.  ii.  279. 

Quillets,  casuistries;  IV.  iii. 
287. 

Quote,  regard;  V.  ii.  788. 

Raught,  reached;  IV.  ii.  41. 


Reasons,  arguments ;  V.  i.  2. 

Remember;  "  r.  thy  courtesy," 
a  common  phrase  of  the  time, 
bidding  a  person  who  had 
courteously  taken  off  his  hat 
to  put  it  on  again ;  V.  i.  97. 

Repasture,  repast,  food ;  IV.  i. 

^.^solve,  answer;  II.  i.  no.  p- 
Respects,  considerations ;  V.  ii. 

^784.  , 

l^hetoric,  II.  i.  229>f^ 
Russet,   homespun    (commonly 
of  russet  colour)  ;  V.  ii.  413. 

Saint  Denis,  the  patron  saint  of 

-ance;  V.  ii.  87. 
)aiz'e,  ointment;  III.  i.  73; 
used  perhaps  with  a  quibble 
on  Latin  salve,  a  word  of 
greeting,  and  sometimes  also 
a  parting  salutation;  III.  i. 
82. 

Satis  quod  sufUcit,  "  enough  's 
as  good  as  a  feast";  V.  i.  i. 

Saw,  maxim ;  V.  ii.  925. 

S  elf -sovereignty ;  "not  a  sov- 
ereignty over,  but  in,  them- 
selves " ;  or  perhaps  one 
should  read  "  that  self-sover- 
eignty," i.e.  "that  self-same 
s." ;  iv.  i.  z6. 

Set,  i.e.  a  set  at  tennis ;  "  to 
bandy"  {cp.  "well-bandied 
both")  ^  to  send  the  ball  to 

I  and  fro ;  V.  ii.  29. 
^Several  (used  quibblingly)  r= 
an  enclosed  field,  the  private 
property  of  an  individual,  as 
opposed  to  a  common,  which 
was  used  by  the  public  gen- 
erally; II.  i.  223.   ^ 


128 


LOVE'S  LABOUR  *S  LOST 


Glossary 


Shapeless,  unshapely,  ugly;  V. 
ii.  303- 

Shrewd,  mischievous ;  V.  ii.  12. 

Shrows,  shrews ;  V.  ii.  46. 
I^^^Sigmfica7tt,    symbol     (used    by 
•       Armado)  ;  III.  i.  130. 

Simplicity,  silliness ;  V.  ii.  78. 
i^it   out,  not  to   take   part    (an 
expression  derived  from  the 
card-table)  ;  I.  i.  no. 

Skipping,  frivolous,  flighty;  V. 
ii.  763. 

Slop  (the  Quartos  and  Folios, 
"  shop,"  corrected  by  Theo- 
bald), usually  used  only  in 
the  plural  =  large  loose 
trousers;  IV.  iii.  58. 

Small,  the  small  of  the  leg;  V. 
ii.  641. 
\^^neaping,  snipping;  I.  i.  100. 

Snuff,  used  equivocally  for  (i) 
the  wick  of  a  candle,  and  (2) 
a  huff  expressed  by  a  snuffing 
of  the  nose,  resentment ;  "  to 
take  in  snuff  "=  "  to  take  of- 

y  fence  " ;  V.  ii.  22. 
vSolemnised ;  II.  i.  42.'V* 

Sore,  a  deer  of  the  fourth  year ; 
IV.  ii.  59. 

Sorel,  a  deer  of  the  third  year ; 

IV.  ii.  61.     {Cp.  illustration.) 
'Ported,  associated ;  I.  i.  260. 

Spleen,  sudden  impulse;  fit  of 
laughter ;  V.  ii.  117. 

Sqtiier,  square,  foot-rule  ;  "  to 
know  my  lady's  foot  "  =  "  to 
know  her  humours  exactly  " ; 

V.  ii.  474- 

Stand,     used     technically     for 

hunter's  station ;  IV.  i.  10. 
Staple,  thread,  pile;  V.  i.  19. 
State,  attitude ;  IV.  iii.  184. 


(goto  vjig 


From  a  late  MS.  of  the  "  Master  of  the 
Game,"  in  the  British  Museum  (Bibl. 
Reg.  17A.lv.). 


States,  estates ;  V.  ii.  425. 

Statute-caps,  woollen  caps, 
which  by  Act  of  Parliament 
in  1571  were  worn  by  the 
citizens  of  London  on  Sun- 
days and  holidays;  V.  ii.  281. 


From  Foxe's  Ecclesiastical  History 
(1576). 

Stoop,  (?)  crooked,  or  perhaps 

used  as  a  substantive ;  IV.  iii. 

88. 
Sue,  used  equivocally  for    (i) 

to  prosecute,  and  (2)  to  beg, 

entreat ;  V.  ii.  427. 
Suggested,  tempted;  V.  ii.  772. 
^■Suggestions,  temptations;  I.  i. 

159. 


129 


Glossary 


LOVE'S  LABOUR'S  LOST 


Suitor,  spelt  "  shooter  "  in  the 
Folios  and  Quartos,  for  the 
sake  of  the  quibble ;  IV.  i. 
no. 

Swound  (spelt  "sound"  in  old 
eds.),  swoon;  V.  ii.  392. 

Taffeta,  a  rich,  smooth  stuff  of 
silk  (perhaps  used  for  the 
ladies'  masks)  ;  V.  ii.  159. 

Talent,  used  quibblingly  with  a 
play  upon  "talon";  IV.  ii.  65. 

Teen,  grief;  IV.  iii.  164. 
iyfharborough    =    thirdborough 

y  constable;  I.  i.  185. 
i^Thin-belly;  "  t.  doublet,"  op- 
posed to  "  great-bellied  doub- 
let," the  lean  belly  being 
characteristic  of  a  man  in 
love;  III.  i.  19. 

Thrasonical,  boastful  (derived 
from  the  character  of  Thraso 
in  Terence's  Eunuchus)  ;  V. 
i.  13. 

Three-piled,  superfine ;  V.  ii. 
407. 

Tired,  attired,  clothed  in  trap- 
pings; IV.  ii.  130. 
1/To,  compared  to ;  II.  i.  62,)\. 

Toy,  trifle ;  IV.  iii.  200. 

Trencher-knight,  serving-man ; 
V.  ii.  464. 

Treys,  threes  (as  in  dice  and 
card-playing)  ;  V.  ii.  232. 

Tritimviry,  triumvirate  ;  IV.  iii. 
52. 

Troyan,  Trojan  (used  often  as 
a  term  of  contempt)  ;   V.  ii. 

\^/^umhler's  hoop  (cp.  accom- 
panying illustration)  ;  III.  i. 
189. 


From  a  print  by  H.  Cock  (1565),  after 
a  design  by  Breughel. 

Turtles,  turtle-doves ;  IV.  iii. 
211. 

Tyburn,  the  usual  place  of  exe- 
cution in  London;  ''the  shape 
of  Love's  Tyburn,"  alluding 
to  the  triangular  form  of  the 
gallows  (here  illustrated)  ; 
IV.  iii.  53- 


From  an  old  black-letter  ballad  entitled 
"The  Royall  Subjects  Warning-Piece 
to  all  Traytors." 

Unconfirmed,  ignorant;  IV.  ii. 
19. 


130 


LOVE'S  LABOUR'S  LOST 


Glossary 


Unhappy,  roguish;  V.  ii.  12, 

iJ^peeled  (the  reading  of  Q.  i ; 

the     Folios,     "unpeopled"), 

stripped,  desolate;  II.  i.  88.X 

Usurping,     counterfeit,     false ; 

IV.  iii.  258. 

Vailing,  letting  fall ;  V.  ii.  297. 

Veal;  used  by  way  of  punning 
as  the  pronunciation  of 
"  well "  among  Dutchmen 
{i.e.  Germans)  ;  according  to 
others  the  word  alluded  to  is 
"  Viel,"  in  the  phrase  "  zu 
viel "  (too  much),  but  this 
seems  doubtful;  the  joke  oc- 
curs elsewhere,  with  a  play 
upon  "  well  "  ;  V.  ii.  247. 

Venue,  a  single  hit ;  a  fencing 
term;  V.  i.  58. 

Via,  an  Italian  adverb  of  en- 
couragement ;  used  here 
probably  for  di  via  {i.e.  "  say 
on,"  "  speak  out!")  ;  V.i.  150. 
L^-^olahle  (Folios,  Q.  i,  voluble), 
nimble-witted;  III.  i.  67. 

IWard,  guard;  III.  i.  133. 

Ware,  beware  of;  V.  ii.  43. 

Wax,  grow  (with  a  quibble  on 
"sealing-wax"),  alluding  to 
previous  line;  V.  ii.  10. 

Week;  "  he  were  but  in  by  the 
week,"  a  cant  phrase,  prob- 
ably derived  from  the  hiring 
of  servants,  =1  if  I  had  him 
at  my  command ;  if  he  were 
deep  in  love;  V.  ii.  61. 

Weigh,  used  equivocally  for 
(i)  to  be  equivalent  to  in 
weight,  and   (2)  to  care  for; 

V.  ii.  26,  27. 


Well  advised,  sane,  in  right 
mind;  V.  ii.  434. 

]V  hole's  hone  {i.e.  whales 
bone),  the  tooth  of  the  wal- 
r^XSr;  V.  ii.  332. 

iVhere,  whereas ;  II.  i.  103.  ^ 
LWIiifely  (Quartos  and  early 
Folios,  "whitly"),  misspell- 
ing of  "  wightly,"  i.e.  "  wim- 
ble "  (Rosaline  was  a  bru- 
nette, and  the  strange  epithet 
"  whitely "  seems  inappro- 
priate) ;  III.  i.  197. 
UVunpled,    blindfolded;    III.    i. 

180. 
l^'ink,  to  shut  the  eyes ;  I.  i.  43. 

Wit-old,  used  with  a  quibble  on 
"  wittol  "  (^a  cuckold);  V. 
i.  62. 

Woodcocks,  fools ;  the  wood- 
cock was  supposed  to  have 
no  brains,  and  hence  became 
the  emblem  of  stupidity;  IV. 
iii.  81. 

Woohvard,  with  the  wool  next 
to  the  skin;  V.  ii.  710. 

Wort,  a  sweet,  unfermented 
beer;  V.  ii.  233. 

Wreathed,  folded;  IV.  iii.  134. 

Ycliped,  yclept  (introduced  for 
a  play  upon  "dipt")  ;  V.  ii. 
600. 

Years;  "  in  years  "  =  "  into 
wrinkles  " ;  V.  ii.  465. 

Zany,  buffoon ;  V.  ii.  463. 

Zcnelophon  (so  the  Folios  or 
Quartos ;  the  name  in  the  old 
ballad  is  "  Penelophon," 
which  is  the  form  substituted 
here  in  many  editions)  ;  IV. 
i.65. 


131 


Glossary 


LOVE'S  LABOUR  *S  LOST 


'A   Cittern   head';   V,   ii.  614.     'The   head  of  a  bodkin;  'A 
Death's  face  in  a  ring' ;  '  The  carved-hone  face  on  a  Hask.' 


{a)  Cittern  head,  from  Mersenne's  Harmonie  Universille  (1636). 
\b)  Bodkin,  from  a  specimen  found  in  a  Roman  cemetery  at  Mayence. 
c)  Ring,  from  a  specimen  belonging  to  the  late  J.  O.  Halliwell-Phillipps. 
)  Flask,  from  a  specimen  belonging  to  M.  Sauvageot  (Paris). 


i5) 


132 


LOVE'S  LABOUR  'S  LOST 

Critical  Notes. 

BY  ISRAEL  GOLLANCZ. 

There  is  no  list  of  '  Dramatis  Personae '  in  the  Quartos  and 
Folios :  it  should  be  remembered  that  '  Biron '  is  spelt  '  Berowne,' 
rhyming  with  '  moon  '  in  Act  IV.  iii.  232 ;  '  Moth '  was  probably- 
pronounced  'Mote'  (cp.  the  quibble  on  'nothing'  in  Much  Ado, 
II.  iii.  59,  and  on  '  Goths '  in  As  You  Like  It,  III.  iii.  9)  ;  '  Mer- 
cade '  is  generally  '  Marcade  ' ;  '  Armado  '  is  sometimes  given  as 
'  Armatho  ' ;  '  Boyet '  rhymes  with  '  debt '  in  V.  ii.  334 ;  '  Longa- 
ville  '  with  '  ill '  in  IV.  iii.  123,  and  with  '  mile  '  in  V.  ii.  53. 

I.  i.  62.  'feast'',  Quartos  and  Folios,  'fast,'  corrected  byTheo- 
bald. 

I.  i.  82.  '  Who  dazzling  so' ',  "  that  when  he  dazzles,  that  is,  has 
his  eye  made  weak,  by  fixing  his  eye  upon  a  fairer  eye,  that  fairer 
eye  shall  be  his  heed,  his  direction  or  lodestar,  and  give  him  light 
that  was  blinded  by  it  "  (Johnson). 

I.  i.  104.  'Any  abortive'',  the  reading  of  the  Quartos  and  Fo- 
lios ;  probably  an  error  for  '  an,'  as  corrected  by  Pope. 

I.  i.  106.  'shows'',  Theobald  substituted  'earth'  for  the  sake  of 
the  rhyme;  Walker  proposed  'mirth.'  Malone  supposes  a  line  to 
be  lost  after  line  104. 

I.  i.  108-109.  'So  you  to  study  .  .  .  little  gate'',  this  is  one  of 
the  instances  where  the  reading  of  the  first  Quarto  is  better  than 
that  of  the  Folio  : — 

'So  you  to  studie  nozv  it  is  too  late, 
That  were  to  clymbe  ore  the  house  to  unlocke  the  gate.' 

Various  emendations  have  been  proposed;  the  only  real  difficulty 
is  in  the  loose  use  of  the  word  '  so.'  Biron  says  that  he  likes  of 
each  thing  that  in  season  grows ;  '  so  '  presupposes,  however,  some 
statement  to  this  effect ;  '  to  wish  for,  or  to  do,  a  thing  out  of 
season  is  huge  folly ' ;  so  you,  now  that  it  is  too  late  to  study, 
climb  o'er  the  house,  etc. 

I.  i.  185.  '  Tharhorough'  \  the  reading  of  the  Quarto,  '  farbor- 
ough,'  probably  gives  us  Bull's  actual  pronunciation  of  his  office. 

133 


Notes  LOVE'S  LABOUR  'S  LOST 

I,  i.  196.  '  heaven'  so  Quartos  and  Folios.  Theobald  proposed 
'  having ' ;  whatever  may  be  the  exact  force  of  the  phrase,  it  seems 
most  probable  that  '  heaven '  is  the  right  word,  and  no  emendation 
is  necessary. 

I.  ii.  89.  'A  green  wit ' ;  a  probable  allusion,  according  to  the 
Cambridge  editors,  to  the  '  green  withes  '  with  which  Samson  was 
bound  {cp.  note  supra  on  pronunciation  of  *  Moth  '). 

I.  ii.  109.  The  ballad  of  King  Cophetua  and  the  Beggar-Maid 
may  be  found  in  Percy's  Reliques. 

II.  i.  45.  'Well  £tted  in  arts';  the  second  Folio  inserts  'the,' 
omitted  in  the  earlier  editions. 

II.  i.  114-128.  The  speakers  in  Quarto  i  are  '  Berowne '  and 
*  Katharine.' 

II.  i.  129.  Shakespeare  may  have  got  a  hint  for  this  passage 
from  Monstrelet's  Chronicles,  according  to  which  Charles,  King 
of  Navarre,  surrendered  to  the  King  of  France  the  castle  of  Cher- 
bourg, the  county  of  Evreux,  and  other  lordships  for  the  Duchy 
of  Nemours  and  a  promise  of  200,000  gold  crowns  {vide  Shake- 
speare's Library,  ed.  Hazlitt,  Part  I.  Vol.  i). 

II.  i.  238.  'Impatient  to  speak  and  not  see,'  i.e.  'not  able  to 
endure  merely  the  faculty  of  speech  without  that  of  sight.' 

III.  i.  21.  '  It  was  a  common  trick  among  some  of  the  most 
indolent  of  the  ancient  masters  to  place  the  hands  in  the  bosom 
or  the  pockets,  or  conceal  them  in  some  part  of  the  drapery,  to 
avoid  the  labour  of  representing  them,  or  to  disguise  their  own 
want  of  skill  to  employ  them  with  grace  and  propriety'  (Stee- 
vens). 

IV.  i.  1-4.  These  lines,  as  Spedding  pointed  out,  were  most 
probably  introduced  in  the  corrected  copy.  "  It  was  thus  that 
Shakespeare  learnt  to  shade  off  his  scenes,  to  carry  the  action  be- 
yond the  stage." 

IV.  i.  146.  'Armado  o'  th'  one  side  ;  the  reading  is  due  to 
Rowe;  the  first  Quarto  has  '  Armatho  ath  toothen  side,'  and  the 
Folio  '  Armathor  ath  to  the  side.'  Possibly  the  whole  passage 
from  '  O  my  troth  .  .  .  nit'  should  have  been  printed  in  the 
previous  scene,  after  line  136,  and  some  editors  make  the  trans- 
position. 

IV.  ii.  42.  '  The  allusion  holds  in  the  exchange'  i.e.  'the  riddle 
is  as  good  when  I  use  the  name  of  Adam  as  when  I  use  the  name 
of  Cain.' 

IV.  ii.  62.  '  one  sorel ' ;  the  first  Quarto  has  '  0  sorell,'  and  the 

134 


LOVE'S  LABOUR'S  LOST  Notes 

Folios  *"  O  sorell ' ;  Capell  proposed  '  O  sore  L,'  which  is  generally 
adopted. 

IV.  ii.  98,  99.  The  first  Quarto  and  Folio  give  the  following 
reading : — 

'  Vemchie,  vcnclia,  que  non  te  vnde,  que  non  te  perreche' ; 

the  reading  adopted  by  the  Cambridge  editors  is  from  Florio's 
Second  Frutes  (1591),  whence  Shakespeare  probably  took  it. 

IV.  ii.  122.  '  apostrophas ' ;  this  is  taken  by  some  editors  to  refer 
to  the  apostrophes  in  vow'd  and  bow'd  (11.  109,  11 1),  and  the 
words  are  accordingly  printed  '  vowed '  and  '  bowed ' ;  this  inter- 
pretation seems  unsatisfactory,  but  so  far  nothing  better  has  been 
advanced.  Does  not  Holofernes'  criticism  bear  directly  on  the  last 
line  of  the  canzonet?    Nathaniel  should  have  read: — 

*"  That  singes  heaven's  praise  with  such  an  earthly  tongue.' 

It  was  usual  to  mark  cs  with  two  dots  when  sounded:  Holofernes 
may  mean  by  '  apostrophas/  '  dicereses.'  The  poem  is  printed  with 
a  few  variant  readings  (e.g.  '  to  sing')  in  the  Passionate  Pilgrim, 
where  also  are  found  11.  59-72  and  11.  100- 119  of  the  next  scene, 
also  with  some  interesting  points  of  difference. 

IV.  iii.  15,  16.  'melancholy' ;  it  is  noteworthy  that  Quartos  and 
Folios  real  mallichollie ;  this  form  may  have  been  due  to  the 
author;  it  explains  Mistress  Quickly's  allicholly.  Mallicholly 
seems  to  be  an  authentic  Middle  English  form  of  the  word;  it 
should  perhaps  be  retained  in  the  text.. 

IV.  iii.  107.  '  Wish,'  so  the  Quartos  and  first  Folio ;  in  the  Pas- 
sionate Pilgrim  'wish'd';  similarly  in  line  112  'thorn'  is  due  to 
the  version  printed  in  England's  Helicon :  the  other  editions  read 
'  throne.'    Rowe  first  proposed  the  change. 

IV.  iii.  141.  The  second  Folio  omits  one.  Walker's  suggestion 
'  One's '  makes  the  line  rhythmic. 

IV,  iii.  145.  'Faith  infringed/  the  reading  of  the  Quartos  and 
the  Folio ;  '  faith  so  infringed '  seems  the  most  satisfactory  emen- 
dation proposed. 

IV.  iii.  165.  '  a  gnat/  perhaps  alluding  to  the  fact  that  it  sings, 
as  it  flies.    Biron  refers  probably  to  the  King's  sonnets. 

IV.  iii.  175.  'men  like  you,  men  of  inconstancy' ',  S.  Walker's 
conjecture;  Folio  i,  Quarto  2:  'men,  like  men  of  inconstancy/ 

IV.  iii.  247.  ""  wood ' ;  Quartos  and  Folios  read  '  zvord/ 

IV,  iii.  254.  'Suit  of  night';  the  early  editions,  'school'; 
'  scowl/  '  stole/  '  soul/  '  scroll/  '  seal/  '  shade/  have  been  proposed 

135 


Notes 


LOVE'S  LABOUR'S  LOST 


by  various  scholars ;  most  probably,  as  the  Cambridge  editors  sug- 
gest, 'school'  is  an  error  for  '  shoote'  i.e.  suit,  though  they  retain 
the  former  reading. 

IV.  iii.   300.  'prisons';    Theobald's    emendation    of   ' poysons.' 
Quartos  and  Folios. 

V.  i.  29.  In  Quarto  and  Folio  the  line  reads : — 

'Borne  boon  for  boon  priscian,  a  little  scratcht  'twil  serve.' 

V.  i.  127.  Capell  proposed  'or'  for  'and';  the  passage  is  evi- 
dently corrupt. 

V.  ii.  6y.  '  perttaunt-like' ;  this  word  is  the  crux  of  the  play;  the 
early  editions  read  'perttaunt-like'  and  ' pertaunt-like.'  Theobald 
reads  'pedant-like'  and  other  editors  suggest  'portent-like'  'pa- 
geant-like,' 'potently,'  '  persaunt-like.'  It  is  perhaps  worth  while 
suggesting  that  the  phrase  (tant)  pour  tant  (quasi  'tit  for  tat') 
perhaps  underlies  the  word;  it  may  well  have  been  used  in  some 
game:  Mr.  Marshall  quotes  pur  Tant  from  a  poetical  description 
of  an  old  game,  but  no  explanation  has  as  yet  been  advanced. 
V.  ii.  332.  '  To  show  his  teeth  as  white  as  whales  bone';  Cam- 
bridge Edition,  '  whale's  bone  ' ;  this 
should  certainly  be  printed  whales 
bone,  the  regular  name  for  walrus 
tusk  in  old  English. 

V.  ii.  338.  '  Madman,'  possibly  an 
error  for  '  man,'  '  mad '  being  due  to 
'  madam '  in  the  next  line. 

V.  ii.  565,  566.  According  to  Plu- 
tarch, Alexander's  head  had  a  twist 
towards  the  left ;  he  states  also  that 
Alexander's  skin  had  '  a  marvellous 
good  savour.' 

V.  ii.  578.  '  Your  lion,  that  holds 
his  poll-axe  sitting  on  a  close  stool; ' 
the  arms  of  Alexander.  (See  illus- 
tration  and   cp.   Frontispiece  to   this 

V.  ii.  591.  '  Canis';  '  canus'  in  the 
old  editions,  required  for  the  sake  of  the  rhyme. 

V.    ii.    739.  'a    nimble';    Theobald's    correction    of    'humble.' 
(Quartos  and  Folios.) 

V.  ii.  742,  743.  The  meaning  of  these  somewhat  obscure  lines 
seems  to  be  that  'the  latest  minute  of  the  hour    (cp.  line  797) 

136 


From  the  Roman  des  nenf  prcux 
( Abbey  ville,  1467;. 


LOVE'S  LABOUR  'S  LOST 


Notes 


often  fashions  or  moulds  all  causes  or  questions  to  the  purposes 
of  his  speed,  that  is,  to  his  own  intents  ' ;  "  the  extreme  parts  are 
the  end  parts,  '  extremities ' — as,  of  our  body,  fingers ;  of  chains, 
the  final  links ;  of  given  portions  of  time,  the  last  of  those  units 
into  which  we  choose  to  divide  them."  Observe  '  forms '  for 
'form'  by  attraction  of  '  time.'  In  the  next  lines  the  metaphor  is 
derived  from  archery. 

V.  ii.  754.  '  Double ' ;  so  Quartos  and  "Folios ;  many  modern  edi- 
tors adopt  'dull'  from  the  Collier  MS. 

V.  ii.  765.  '  Strange ' ;  the  Quartos  and  Folios  read  '  straying/ 
possibly  merely  a  variant  spelling  of  '  strange.' 

V.  ii.  878.  'Jack  hath  not  Jill,'  cp.  Midsummer-Night' s  Dream, 
III.  ii.  461  :— 

"Jack  shall  have  Jill: 
Nought  shall  go  ill: 
The  man  shall  have  his  mare  again,  and  all  shall  be  well." 


Trf 

\fy 

■) 

► 

m 

J^ 

Plan  of  an  Elizabethan  '  Curious  Knotted  Garden  '  (I.  i.  249). 


m 


LOVE'S  LABOUR  'S  LOST 


Explanatory  Notes. 

The  Explanatory  Notes  in  this  edition  have  been  specially  selected  and 
adapted,  with  emendations  after  the  latest  and  best  authorities,  from  the 
most  eminent  Shakespearian  scholars  and  commentators,  including  Johnson, 
Malone,  Steevens,  Singer,  Dyce,  Hudson,  White,  Furness,  Dowden,  and 
others.  This  method,  here  introduced  for  the  first  time,  provides  the  best 
annotation  of  Shakespeare  ever  embraced  in  a  single  edition. 


ACT  FIRST. 
Scene  L 

32.  all  these : — Referring  probably  to  his  companions  in  the  in- 
tended life  of  study  and  fasting.  He  may  be  supposed  to  point  to 
them. 

92.  Too  much  to  know,  etc. : — ^Johnson  explains  the  passage 
thus :  "  The  consequence,  says  Biron,  of  too  much  knowledge,  is 
not  any  real  solution  of  doubts,  but  mere  reputation ;  that  is,  too 
much  knowledge  gives  only  fame,  a  name  which  every  godfather 
can  give  likewise." 

161.  /  am  the  last  that  will  last  keep  his  oath: — Rolfe  says  that 
Mr.  P.  A.  Daniel  conjectures  "one"  for  the  first  last,  on  the 
ground  that  Biron  is  made  to  say  the  contrary  of  what  he  means ; 
but  Rolfe  adds  that  Shakespeare  sometimes  twists  the  sense  of  a 
word  a  little  for  the  sake  of  a  repetition  like  this. 

177.  /  will  use  him  for  my  minstrelsy : — That  is,  as  Douce  ex- 
plains, "  I  will  make  a  minstrel  of  him,  whose  occupation  was  to 
relate  fabulous  stories." 

273,  274.  the  weaker  vessel: — See  i  Peter,  iii.  7;  also  As  You 
Like  It,  II.  iv.  6;  Romeo  and  Juliet,  I.  i.  16;  and  2  Henry  IV.,  II. 
iv.  63. 

290.  damsel: — The  Folio  has  damosell  here  and  in  the  next  two 
lines,  the  first  Quarto  damsel.  See  IV.  ii.  130,  of  this  play,  where 
Holof ernes  makes  it  damosella. 

307.  I  'II  lay  my  head,  etc. : — I  will  wager  or  stake.  So  in  Henry 
v.,  IV.  i.  234,  235 :  "  Lay  twenty  French  crowns  to  one,"  etc. 

138 


LOVE'S  LABOUR'S  LOST  Notes 

Scene  IL 

5.  dear  imp  : — Imp  literally  means  a  graff,  scion,  or  shoot  of  a 
tree;  hence  formerly  used  in  a  good  sense  for  offspring  or  child. 
So  in  the  prologue  to  the  Faerie  Que  cue: — 

"And  thou  [Cupid],  most  dreaded  impe  of  highest  Jove, 
Faire  Venus  sonne. 

Of  course  everybody  knows  the  word  is  now  used  only  for  a 
wicked  or  mischievous  being — a  child  of  the  devil. 

Z2»  34-  crosses  love  not  him: — So  in  As  You  Like  It,  II.  iv.  12, 
13,  the  clown  says  to  Celia,  "  I  should  bear  no  cross,  if  I  did  bear 
you."  Many  coins  were  anciently  marked  with  a  cross  on  one 
side. 

52.  the  dancing  horse: — Of  this  animal  Sir  Kenelm  Digby 
says :  "  He  would  restore  a  glove  to  the  due  owner,  after  the  mas- 
ter had  whispered  the  man's  name  in  his  ear;  would  tell  the  just 
number  of  pence  in  any  piece  of  silver  coin  newly  showed  him  by 
his  master."  Bankes  showed  his  horse  upon  the  continent,  and  in 
France  had  a  narrow  escape  from  the  Capuchins,  who  suspected 
him  of  being  in  league  with  the  devil.  There  was  a  report  that 
he  fell  a  victim  to  a  similar  suspicion  at  Rome.  Ben  Jonson,  in 
his  Epigrams,  speaks  of 

"Old  Banks  the  juggler,  our  Pythagoras, 
Grave  tutor  to  the  learned  horse ;  both  which 
Being,  beyond  sea,  burned  for  one  witch 
Their  spirits  transmigrated  to  a  cat." 

105.  native  she  doth  owe : — Of  which  she  is  naturally  possessed. 

115.  digression: — Shakespeare  elsewhere  uses  this  word  in  the 
sense  of  diverging  or  straying  from  the  right.  So  in  the  Rape  of 
Lucrece,  202,  203  : — 

"  Then  my  digression  is  so  vile,  so  base. 
That  it  will  live  engraven  in  my  face." 

And  in  Richard  II.,  V.  iii.,  when  York  reveals  the  treacherous 
conspiracy  of  his  son,  Bolingbroke  says : — 

"  And  thy  abundant  goodness  shall  excuse 
This  deadly  blot  in  thy  digressing  son." 

177,  178.  TJie  first  and  second  cause,  etc.: — This  is  explained  in 

139 


Notes  LOVE'S  LABOUR 'S  LOST 

Touchstone's  learned  discourse  on  the  causes  of  quarrel,  in  As 
You  Like  It,  V.  iv. 


ACT   SECOND. 
Scene  L 

149.  gelded : — This  was  a  common  metaphorical  expression, 
then  much  used.  In  The  Returne  from  Parnassus,  III.  i.,  we  find: 
"  He  hath  a  proper  gelded  parsonage."  And  Bishop  Hall,  in  the 
second  Satire  of  Book  iv. :  "  Plod  it  at  a  patron's  tail,  to  get  some 
gelded  chapel's  cheaper  sale." 

223.  though  several  they  he: — So  in  Bacon's  Apothegms: 
"  There  was  a  lord  that  was  leane  of  visage,  but  immediately  after 
his  marriage  he  grew  fat.  One  said  to  him,  '  Your  lordship  doth 
contrary  to  other  married  men ;  for  they  first  wax  lean,  and  you 
wax  fat.'  Sir  Walter  Raleigh  stood  by,  and  said,  'Why  there  is 
no  beast,  that  if  you  take  him  from  the  common,  and  put  him  into 
the  several,  but  he  will  wax  fat.'  " 

ACT  THIRD. 
Scene  L 

3.  ConcoUnel: — The  songs  formerly  used  on  the  stage  were 
often  popular  ditties,  and  therefore  were  omitted  in  the  writing  of 
a  play.  Such  is  apparently  the  case  here;  ConcoUnel  being  the 
first  word  of  Moth's  "  sweet  air."  The  song  is  probably  lost ;  at 
least,  it  has  not  been  identified. 

9.  brawl : — This  dance  is  thus  described  by  Marston :  "  The 
brawl !  why,  'tis  but  two  singles  to  the  left,  two  on  the  right,  three 
doubles  forwards,  a  traverse  of  six  rounds :  do  this  twice,  three 
singles  side  galliard  trick  of  twenty  coranto  pace :  a  figure  of 
eight,  three  singles  broken  down,  come  up,  meet  two  doubles,  fall 
back,  and  then  honour."  Ben  Jonson  gives  it  a  most  poetical  dash 
in  The  Vision  of  Delight: — 

"  In  curious  knots  and  mazes,  so 
The  Spring  at  first  was  taught  to  go ; 
And  Zephyr,  when  he  came  to  woo 
His  Flora,  had  their  motions  too : 

140 


LOVE'S  LABOUR'S  LOST  Notes 

And  thence  did  Venus  learn  to  lead 
Th'  Idalian  brawls,  and  so  to  tread 
As  if  the  wind,  not  she,  did  walk; 
Nor  prest  a  flower,  nor  bow'd  a  stalk." 

And  Gray  thus  alludes  to  Elizabeth's  "  dancing  Chancellor,"  while 
describing  the  ancient  seat  of  the  Hattons : — 

"  Full  oft,  within  the  spacious  walls. 
When  he  had  fifty  winters  o'er  him. 
My  grave  Lord-keeper  led  the  brazvls ; 
The  seals  and  maces  danc'd  before  him. 
His  bushy  beard,  and  shoe-strings  green. 
His  high-crown'd  hat,  and  satin  doublet, 
Mov'd  the  stout  heart  of  England's  Queen, 
Though  Pope  and  Spaniard  could  not  trouble  it." 

189.  It  was  once  a  mark  of  gallantry  to  wear  a  lady's  colours. 
A  tumbler's  hoop  was  usually  dressed  out  with  coloured  ribands. 

191.  a  German  clock : — Clocks,  which  were  usually  imported 
from  Germany  at  this  time,  were  intricate  and  clumsy  pieces  of 
mechanism,  soon  deranged,  and  frequently  "  out  of  frame."  Ben 
Jonson,  in  The  Silent  Woman,  IV.  i.,  thus  describes  a  fashionable 
lady:  "  She  takes  herself  asunder  still  when  she  goes  to  bed,  into 
some  twenty  boxes ;  and  about  next  day  noon  is  put  together  again, 
like  a  great  German  clock." 

ACT  FOURTH. 
Scene  I. 

I  et  seq.  Was  that  the  king,  etc. : — "  This,"  says  Clarke,  "  is  just 
one  of  those  touches  that  Shakespeare  throws  in,  to  mark  the  way 
in  which  a  woman  unconsciously  betrays  her  growing  preference 
for  a  man  who  loves  her.  The  princess  recognizes  the  horseman, 
though  he  is  at  such  a  distance  that  her  attendant  lord  is  unable 
to  distinguish  whether  it  be  the  king  or  not ;  and  then  she  imme- 
diately covers  her  self-betrayal  by  the  pretendedly  indifferent 
words,  Whoe'er  a'  was,  etc.  Shakespeare  in  no  one  of  his  won- 
drous and  numerous  instances  of  insight  into  the  human  heart 
more  marvellously  manifests  his  magic  power  of  perception  than 
in  his  discernment  of  the  workings  of  female  nature ;  its  delicacies, 
its  subtleties,  its  reticences,  its  revelations,  its  innocent  reserves, 

141 


Notes  LOVE'S  LABOUR'S  LOST 

and  its  artless  confessions.  He,  of  all  masculine  writers,  was 
most  truly  feminine  in  his  knowledge  of  what  passes  within  a 
woman's  heart,  and  the  multiform  ways  in  which  it  expresses  it- 
self through  a  woman's  acts,  words,  manner — nay  even  her  very 
silence.  He  knew  the  eloquence  of  a  look,  the  significance  of  a 
gesture,  the  interpretation  of  a  tacit  admission ;  and,  moreover,  he 
knew  how  to  convey  them  in  his  might  of  expression  by  ingenious 
inference." 

10.  "  Royal  and  noble  ladies,  in  the  days  of  Elizabeth,"  says 
Knight,  "  delighted  in  the  somewhat  unrefined  sport  of  shooting 
deer  with  a  crossbow.  In  the  '  alleys  green '  of  Windsor  or  of 
Greenwich  parks,  the  queen  would  take  her  stand,  on  an  elevated 
platform,  and,  as  the  pricket  or  the  buck  was  driven  past  her, 
would  aim  the  death-shaft,  amid  the  acclamations  of  her  admiring 
courtiers.  The  ladies,  it  appears,  were  skilful  enough  at  this  sylvan 
butchering.  Sir  Franpis  Leake  writes  to  the  Earl  of  Shrewsbury: 
'  Your  lordship  has  sent  me  a  very  great  and  fat  stag,  the  wel- 
comer  being  stricken  by  your  right  honourable  lady's  hand.'  The 
practice  was  as  old  as  the  romances  of  the  Middle  Ages.  But,  in 
those  days,  the  ladies  were  sometimes  not  so  expert  as  the  Coun- 
tess of  Shrewsbury ;  for,  in  the  history  of  Prince  Arthur,  a  fair 
huntress  wounds  Sir  Launcelot  of  the  Lake,  instead  of  the  stag 
at  which  she  aims." 

Scene  H. 

10.  a  buck  of  the  £rst  head: — In  The  Return  from  Parnassus, 
1606,  is  the  following  account  of  the  appellations  of  deer  at  their 
different  ages :  "  Now,  sir,  a  buck  is,  the  first  year,  a  fawn ;  the 
second  year,  a  pricket ;  the  third  year,  a  sorrel ;  the  fourth  year,  a 
soare ;  the  fifth,  a  buck  of  the  first  head ;  the  sixth  year,  a  com- 
plete buck.  Likewise,  your  hart  is,  the  first  year,  a  calfe ;  the 
second  year,  a  brocket ;  the  third  year,  a  spade ;  the  fourth  year,  a 
stag;  the  sixth  year,  a  hart.  A  roe-buck  is,  the  first  year,  a  kid; 
the  second  year,  a  gird ;  the  third  year,  a  hemuse ;  and  these  are 
your  special  beasts  for  chase." 

94-96.  Fauste,  precor  gelida,  etc. : — "  In  .  .  .  his  school 
career,"  says  Baynes,  "  Shakespeare  would  begin  the  reading  of 
Ovid,  parts  of  the  De  Tristibus  and  the  Metamorphoses,  and  with 
Ovid  he  would  take  up  the  selected  Epistles  of  Cicero,  and  the 
Eclogues  of  Baptista  Mantuanus.  The  evidence  as  to  the  last 
point  is  supplied  by  the  well-known  quotation  from  the  Eclogues 

142 


LOVE'S  LABOUR'S  LOST  Notes 

in  Love's  Labour's  Lost.  But  how  imperfectly  the  subject  of 
Shakespeare's  scholarship  has  hitherto  been  worked  out  is,  I  think, 
shown  by  the  fact  that  no  critic  or  commentator  seems  to  have 
ascertained  with  any  certainty  whether  the  Eclogues  were  in  com- 
mon use  as  a  school-book  or  not.  Malone,  indeed,  says  that  from 
a  passage  in  Nash's  Apology,  '  the  Eclogues  of  Mantuanus  appear 
to  have  been  a  school-book  in  our  author's  time.'  And  Warbur- 
ton  gives  at  second  hand  a  quotation  from  Farnaby's  introduction 
to  Martial,  which  certainly  illustrates  the  absurdly  high  estimation 
in  which  the  Mantuan  was  held.  So  popular  was  Mantuanus  in  the 
sixteenth  century  that,  according  to  Farnaby,  the  pedants  had  no 
hesitation  in  preferring  the  '  Fauste,  precor,  gelida '  to  the  *  Arma 
virumque  cano ' ;  in  other  words,  the  Eclogues  of  Mantuanus  to 
the  ^neid  of  Virgil.  Several  editions  of  the  Eclogues  in  the 
original,  and  more  than  one  translation,  had  been  published  in 
England  before  Shakespeare's  school  days,  and  it  would  seem, 
from  numerous  and  laudatory  references  in  contemporary  litera- 
ture, that  the  author  was,  for  a  time,  at  least,  as  much  in  vogue 
here  as  on  the  continent." 

loi.  Ut,  re,  etc. : — He  hums  the  notes  of  the  gamut  as  Edmund 
does  in  King  Lear,  I.  ii.  148. 

130.  the  tired  horse  : — That  is,  the  horse  adorned  with  ribands ; 
Bankes's  horse  is  here  probably  alluded  to. 

132.  Ay,  sir,  etc. : — Shakespeare  forgot  that  Jaquenetta  knew 
nothing  of  Biron,  and  had  said  just  before  that  the  letter  had  been 
"  sent  to  her  from  Don  Armado  and  given  to  her  by  Costard." 

Scene  IIL 

80.  More  sacks  to  the  mill! — A  well-known  game  among  boys. 

86.  Her  amber  hairs  .  .  .  quoted : — Quoted  signifies  marked 
or  noted.  The  construction  of  this  passage  will  therefore  be : 
"  Her  amber  hairs  have  marked  or  shown  that  real  amber  is  foul 
in  comparison  with  themselves." 

100-119.  This  poem  is  in  The  Passionate  Pilgrim,  xvii.,  in  Eng- 
land's Helicon,  1614,  and  in  Jaggard's  Collection,  1599,  omitting 
the  couplet — 

"  Do  not  call  it  sin  in  me, 
That  I  am  forsworn  for  thee." 

258.  usurping    hair: — This    alludes    to    the    fashion,    prevalent 

143 


Notes  LOVE'S  LABOUR  'S  LOST 

among  ladies  in  Shakespeare's  time,  of  wearing  false  hair,  or 
perizvigs  as  they  were  then  called,  before  that  covering  for  the 
head  had  been  adopted  by  men. 

340.  The  Hesperides  is  here  used  for  the  garden  of  the  Hes- 
perides.  Some  of  the  commentators  have  made  a  very  needless 
ado  about  the  Poet's  mistake,  as  they  call  it,  in  thus  putting  the 
name  of  the  owners  for  the  name  o,f  the  thing  owned.  But  the 
same  thing  was  done  by  several  writers  of  that  time ;  and  indeed 
similar  forms  of  elliptical  expression  often  occur  in  all  sorts  of 
writing  and  conversation.  Gabriel  Harvey,  a  man  of  unquestion- 
able learning,  uses  Hesperides  in  the  same  way.  So  also  in 
Greene's  Friar  Bacon  and  Friar  Bungay  : — 

"  Shew  the  tree,  leav'd  with  refined  gold. 
Whereon  the  fearful  dragon  held  his  seat, 
That  watch'd  the  garden  call'd  Hesperides." 

343, 344.  And  when  Love  speaks,  etc. : — Heath  thus  explains 
this  passage:  "Whenever  Love  speaks,  all  the  gods  join  their 
voices  with  his  in  harmonious  concert."  The  sleep-persuading 
powers  of  music  have  been  much  celebrated  by  poets  of  all  times, 
and  are  probably  well  known  to  all  who  have  been  children. 
Shirley  in  his  Love  Tricks  carries  the  thing  about  far  enough : — 

"  The  tongue  that  's  able  to  rock  heaven  asleep, 
And  make  the  music  of  the  spheres  stand  still, 
To  listen  to  the  happier  airs  it  makes. 
And  mend  their  tunes  by  it." 

379.  fair  Love: — Fair  Love  is  Venus.  So  in  Antony  and  Cleo- 
patra, I.  i.  44:  "  Now,  for  the  love  of  Love  and  her  soft  hours." 

382.  Sozu'd  cockle,  etc.: — That  is,  where  cockle  is  sowed,  no 
corn  is  reaped. 

ACT  FIFTH. 
Scene  L 

[Enter  Holofernes,  etc.]  "  It  will  be  remembered,"  observes 
Baynes,  "that  these  learned  men  were  walking  in  the  park  after 
having  dined  with  the  father  of  one  of  the  school  pupils,  where  it 
had  been  previously  arranged  that,  if  the  curate  would  gratify  the 
table  with  a  grace,  the   pedant  would  undertake   to  prove  that 

144 


LOVE'S  LABOUR'S  LOST  Notes 

Biron's  love  verses,  which  they  had  read  together,  were  *  very 
unlearned,  neither  savouring  of  poetry,  wit,  nor  invention.' " 
After  quoting  lines  1-34,  Baynes  proceeds :  "  These  scraps  of 
Latin  dialogue  exemplify  the  technical  Latin  intercourse  [in 
Shakespeare's  time]  between  master  and  pupils  in  the  school 
work,  as  well  as  the  formal  colloquies  the  latter  were  required 
to  prepare  as  exercises  in  the  second  stage  of  their  course.  In 
one  of  the  manuals  of  the  latter,  entitled  Familiares  Colloquendi 
Formulcr  in  Usum  Scholarum  Concinnatce,  I  find  under  the  first 
section,  headed  '  Scholasticae  Belonging  to  the  School,'  the  fol- 
lowing: 'Who  comes  to  meet  us?  Quis  obviam  venitf  He 
speaks  improperly.  Hie  incongrue  loquitur;  he  speaks  false  Latin, 
Diminuit  Prisciani  caput;  'Tis  barbarous  Latin,  Old  Barharicmf 
In  the  scene  just  quoted  from  it  will  be  remembered  Holof ernes, 
in  reply  to  Costard's  'Ad  dunghill  at  the  fingers'  ends,  as  they 
say,'  says,  'O  I  smell  false  Latin,  dunghill  for  unqucm.' " 

103.  excrement: — The  heard  is  called  valour's  excrement  in 
The  Merchant  of  Venice,  and  in  all  but  one  of  the  six  passages 
in  which  the  Poet  uses  the  word  excrement  he  applies  it  to  the 
hair  or  beard. 

129,  130.  shall  pass  Pompey : — That  is,  shall  walk  in  the  pro- 
cession for  or  as  Pompey. 

Scene  IL 

19.  mouse : — This  was  formerly  a  term  of  endearment.  So  in 
Hamlet,  III.  iv.  183:  "Pinch  wanton  on  your  cheek,  call  you  his 
fnouse/' 

43-45-  'Ware  pencils,  etc.: — She  advises  Katharine  to  beware  of 
drazcing  likenesses,  lest  she  should  retaliate,  and  then  pays  her 
back  at  once  by  likening  her  to  a  red  dominical  letter,  and  twitting 
her  with  the  smallpox  marks  on  her  face,  which  Rosaline  calls  O's. 

121.  Muscovites  or  Russians: — Hall,  describing  a  banquet  made 
for  the  foreign  ambassadors  at  Westminster,  in  the  first  year  of 
Henry  VIII.,  says,  there  "  came  the  Lorde  Henry  Earle  of  Wilt- 
shire and  the  Lorde  Fitzwater,  in  two  long  gownes  of  yellow  satin 
traversed  with  white  satin,  and  in  every  bend  of  white  was  a 
bend  of  crimosen  sattin  after  the  fashion  of  Russia  or  Ruslande, 
with  furred  hattes  of  grey  on  their  hedes,  either  of  them  havyng 
an  hatchet  in  their  handes,  and  bootes  with  pykes  turned  up." 
Which  may  serve  to  show  that  a  masque  of  Muscovites  was  a 

I4S 


Notes  LOVE'S  LABOUR'S  LOST 

court  recreation,  and  at  the  same  time  convey  an  idea  of  the  dress 
used  on  the  present  occasion. 

187.  measure : — This  dance  was  performed  at  public  entertain- 
ments in  the  Inns  of  Court ;  and  it  was  not  unusual,  nor  thought 
inconsistent,  for  the  first  characters  in  the  law  to  bear  a  part  in 
treading  a  measure.     Sir  Christopher  Hatton  was  famous  for  it. 

297.  angels  vailing  clouds: — That  is,  letting  fall  those  clouds 
which  hid  them  or  obscured  their  brightness. 

548.  lihbard's  head  on  knee : — Alluding  to  old  dresses  and 
armour,  which  often  had  knee-caps  wrought  in  the  form  of  a 
leopard's  head. 

y24-y2y.  Armado  probably  means  to  say  in  his  affected  style 
that  he  had  discovered  he  was  wronged,  and  meant  to  right  him- 
self like  a  soldier.  "  One  may  see  day  at  a  little  hole,"  is  an  old 
proverb. 

748.  ivhich  fain  it  zvould  convince: — That  is,  which  it  fain 
would  succeed  in  obtaining. 

821-825.  The  justice  of  Coleridge's  remarks  upon  these  lines  is 
obvious  enough :  "  There  can  be  no  doubt  indeed  about  the  pro- 
priety of  expunging  this  speech  of  Rosaline's ;  it  soils  the  very 
page  that  retains  it.  But  I  do  not  agree  with  Warburton  and 
others  in  striking  out  the  preceding  line  also.  It  is  quite  in 
Biron's  character,  and,  Rosaline  not  answering  it  immediately, 
Dumain  takes  up  the  question  for  him,  and,  after  he  and  Longa- 
ville  are  answered,  Biron,  with  evident  propriety,  says,  *  Studies 
my  lady?'"  etc.  Perhaps  the  two  speeches  may  be  taken  as  an 
apt  illustration  of  the  difference  between  the  original  and  the  aug- 
mented copies. 

899.  Gerarde  in  his  Herbal,  1597,  says,  that  the  Hos  cuculi  carda- 
mine,  etc.,  are  called  "  in  English  cuckoo  flowers,  in  Norfolk 
Canterbury  bells,  and  at  Namptwich,  in  Cheshire,  Ladie-smocks." 
Herbe  a  coqu  was  one  of  the  old  French  names  for  the  cowslip, 
which  it  seems  probable  is  the  flower  here  meant. 

916.  blozvs  his  7iail : — A  similar  expression  occurs  in  one  of 
South's  sermons :  "  So  that  the  king,  for  anything  that  he  has  to 
do  in  these  matters,  may  sit  and  blow  his  nails;  for  use  them 
otherwise  he  cannot." 

928.  crabs: — The  crab-apple,  which  used  to  be  roasted  and  put 
hissing-hot  into  a  bowl  of  ale,  previously  enriched  with  toast  and 
spice  and  sugar.  How  much  this  was  relished  in  old  times  may 
be  guessed  by  those  who  appreciate  the  virtues  of  apple-toddy. 

146 


LOVE'S  LABOUR  *S  LOST 

Questions  on 
Loves  Labour's  Lost. 


1.  State  the  probable  date  of  the  play. 

2.  For  what  reasons  was  it  popular  in  Shakespeare's  day;  and 
why  is  it  no  longer  performed  on  the  stage? 

ACT  FIRST. 

3.  Comment  on  the  King's  opening  speech  on  the  triumph  of 
Fame. 

4.  How  are  the  earlier  speeches  of  the  King  and  of  Biron  in 
the  nature  of  prologue? 

5.  Is  any  action  supposed  to  precede  that  of  the  play? 

6.  State  the  conditions  of  life  to  which  the  King  and  his  fol- 
lowers agree  to  devote  themselves.  Is  there  any  model  in  foreign 
literature  for  this  conceit? 

7.  What  modern  poet  has  paralleled  this,  with  the  conditions 
reversed? 

8.  What  does  Biron  say  (Sc.  i.)  about  study? 

9.  With  what  humorous  reservation  does  Biron  subscribe  to 
the  regulations? 

10.  How  is  Armado  described  in  the  first  Scene? 

11.  How  is  the  tedium  of  this  isolated  community  to  be  re- 
lieved ? 

12.  In  what  way  is  the  letter  of  Armado  prepared  for?  What 
follies  of  the  age  does  it  satirize? 

13.  What  is  the  humorous  purpose,  as  concerns  the  plot,  of  the 
episode  of  Costard  and  Jaquenetta?  In  the  humorous  purposes 
of  the  dramatist  what  positions  do  Moth  and  Jaquenetta  occupy 
(Sc.  ii.)  in  relation  to  Armado? 

ACT  SECOND. 

14.  What  purpose  has  the  Princess  in  coming  to  Navarre? 

15.  Indicate  the  comic  relation  of  the  visit  to  the  newly  taken 
vows  of  the  King. 

147 


Questions  LOVE'S  LABOUR'S  LOST 

i6.  How  is  Biron  characterized  by  Rosaline? 

17.  Characterize  the  encounter  between  Biron  and  Rosaline. 

18.  Mention  some  of  the  metrical  forms  employed  by  Shake- 
speare in  the  first  and  second  Acts. 

ACT  THIRD. 

19.  How  does  Moth  describe  the  affectations  of  the  time? 

20.  How  does  Costard  gain  his  release? 

21.  Comment  on  lines  68-70. 

22.  Explain  the  meaning  and  use  here    (line  jz)    of  the  word 
I'envoy. 

23.  On  what  errand  does  Biron  dispatch  Costard? 

24.  Compare  Biron's  soliloquy  on  love  with  Benedick's  reflec- 
tions on  the  same  subject. 

25.  Which  of  the  two  men  present  the  more  humorous  object 
in  their  self-consciousness  as  women-killers? 

26.  Show  how  the  first  three  acts  are  defective  in  the  way  that 
the  dramatic  problem  is  stated  and  developed. 

27.  Account  for  the  slightness  of  the  first  three  in  comparison 
with  the  fourth  and  fifth  Acts. 

ACT  FOURTH. 

28.  In  what  occupation  does  the  opening  of  this  Act  discover 
che  Princess  and  her  train? 

29.  State   the    mistake    in    the    delivery    of   the   letters.      Is    it 
provocative  of  much  mirth? 

30.  What  is  satirized  in  the  person  of  Holofernes? 

31.  To  what  does  Holofernes  threaten  to  subject  the  verses  of 
Biron?    Who  does  he  invite  for  his  audience? 

32.  Does  he  follow  learning  for  its  own  sake  or  for  the  sake 
of  the  effect  he  can  make  by  displaying  it? 

2,2,-  What  is  the  difference  between  scholar  and  pedant? 

34.  Granting  the  satirical  purpose  of  this   Scene,   does  it   miss 
point  by  being  too  much  of  the  quality  of  the  thing  satirized? 

35.  Describe  the   scene   which  reveals  the   King's   company  as 
forsworn. 

36.  Who  writes  the  best  verses? 

37.  How    does    Biron   enjoy   a   momentary   triumph,    and   how 
comes  about  his  fall? 

148 


LOVE'S  LABOUR  'S  LOST  Questions 

38.  What  is  his  opinion  of  the  women's  susceptibility  to  love- 
verses?  Do  you  think  the  woman  addressed  or  the  magazines 
the  best  appreciators  of  love- verse? 

39.  Give  the  argument  of  Biron's  rhapsody  on  women. 

ACT  FIFTH. 

40.  How  does  Nathaniel  comment  on  the  arguments  of  Holo- 
f ernes? 

41.  What  are  the  comments  of  Moth  and  Costard  on  Holo- 
fernes  and  Nathaniel? 

42.  Who  are  to  play  the  Nine  Worthies?  How  was  Moth  to 
play  Hercules? 

43.  Under  what  disguise  does  the  King's  party  visit  the  Prin- 
cess ?  How  are  they  met,  and  what  exchanges  among  the  women 
are  made  before  their  return? 

44.  Describe  the  Masque.  Is  this  as  mirth  provoking  as  the 
Masque  in  A  Midsummer-Night's  Dream? 

45.  What  is  the  emotional  effect  of  the  message  announcing 
the  French  King's  death? 

46.  What  penalties  are  laid  upon  the  King's  party  that  bear  out 
the  play's  title,  Love's  Labour's  Lost?  What  is  the  humorous 
effect  of  Biron's  sentence? 

47.  What  new  element  is  introduced  in  the  songs  with  which 
the  play  closes? 

48.  The  earliest  edition  of  the  play  denotes  this  as  a  "  pleasant 
conceited  comedy."     Show  how  this  designation  is  borne  out. 

49.  Is  there  anything,  either  in  the  nature  of  the  plot  or  the 
conduct  of  the  characters,  to  mar  the  uniform  pleasant  effect? 

50.  Mention  certain  characters  that  are  manifestly  studies  for 
characters  that  appear  in  plays  of  subsequent  dates. 

51.  What  play  of  Moliere's  does  this  resemble  in  purpose? 

52.  What  do  you  imagine  to  have  been  Shakespeare's  feeling 
about  Euphuism  and  other  learned  affectations  of  his  age? 

53.  In  what  other  play  does  a  character  embody  the  affectation 
known  as  Euphuism? 

54.  Read  this  play  in  the  light  of  the  words  on  plays  and  acting 
found  in  Hamlet  and  consider  how  Shakespeare  has  here  em- 
bodied those  elements  of  his  dramatic  creed. 

55.  Does  this  play  contain  much  that  is  quotable?  Mention 
some  especially  witty  or  felicitous  turns  of  expression. 

149 


UNIVERSITY   OF  CALIFORNIA-LOS  ANGELES 


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